To Reach For The Sky
by GirlWonder29
Summary: Katherine Elric is the twin sister of Edward Elric, also known as the Sky Alchemist. She lost almost half the entire left side of her body in the failed human transmutation along with heavy scars on her face. Together, the Elric trio will face dangers and the unknown, along with meeting the mysterious Ozone Alchemist Carys Ansel, who has a tragic past and an even darker secret.
1. The Elric Brothers Part One (1 of 2)

_**This is a story which I collaborated on with my very good friend of mine, fellow FanFiction author marianthelibrarian22.**_

 _ **Seriously. She likely wrote more of this than I could have been able to.**_

 _ **I could never have done ANY of this without her.**_

 _ **But! Anyways, we sincerely hope you will enjoy reading this fiction, and our outlook on one of the greatest animes of all time, Fullmetal Alchemist.**_

 _ **(This is not to be confused with Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood).**_

 _ **This is starting from Episode 11: The Elric Brothers Part 1, and will be split into two parts for this episode.**_

 _ **As always, read, like, review, and most of all: enjoy!**_

 **-GirlWonder29**

"Oh, for god's sakes, Ed! What exactly did you do to piss the Colonel off this time?"

Ed scratched his head and looked down sheepishly.

"There...may have been a desk chair involved."

Katherine glowered at her brother, who shot her a nervous grin. "AGAIN? Brother, why do you insist on making enemies with half of the superior officers in the military? Do you have a single ounce of common sense?"

Ed frowned at her " I can't help it! He's just so… _pretentious_ all the time! Besides, what's he going to do? Kick me out of the military? I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Her brother's arrogance only irritated Katherine further.

" No, what he'll do, Ed, is give us a babysitter to follow us around while we go on our mission!"

She stated angrily, nose to nose with him.

Al, who had been watching his siblings go at it from his bed sat up when he heard this. "What do you mean? Is Havoc or one of those other soldiers going to come with us?"

"No, not them, some "Ozone Alchemist"" She spat out the title like it had a bad taste. "I've never heard of them, but they're apparently going to accompany us to Xenotime, to 'keep us out of trouble' according to Mustang."

"What? That's not fair!" Ed whined. "We don't need anyone to keep us out of trouble."

"I think the people of Aquroya and Liore would disagree."

All three siblings jumped, then turned to see Roy Mustang standing in the open doorway to their room.

"We _helped_ those people!" Ed protested.

"Yes, and caused the military one _hell_ of a headache in the process."

"Well, that's not our fault!"

"I don't care whose fault it is, but trouble seems to follow the three of you around like an overeager dog." He paused, and admitted "Not that Carys Ansel is much better, but maybe you'll have some kind of neutralizing effect on each other."

"Carys Ansel? SHE'S the one coming with us?" Katherine exclaimed. She recognized the name, but hadn't known her official title. "She's barely older than Ed and I! Why's she our stupid babysitter?!"

"Don't think of it like a babysitter, Katherine, think of it as...a _traveling companion_." Mustang smirked, then turned to leave. " You'll meet up with The Ozone Alchemist at dawn tomorrow before you leave for Xenotime. And that's an _order_ , Sky Alchemist." He added, as Katherine opened her mouth to argue.

And with that he left, pulling the door shut behind him.

"I. Can't. Believe. Him!" Ed growled through his teeth.

"Well he does have a point, brother. We do tend to find trouble wherever we go. Besides, maybe this Ozone Alchemist won't be so bad." Al reasoned.

"I don't care about what she's like! It's the principle of the whole thing! It's like we're being punished for trying to do the right thing!"

" I don't think that's what he's trying to do!"

"Oh yes he is! It is so like him to pull something like this!"

"Brother, I…"

Katherine watched her brothers bickering. _I hate it when they do this._ She thought, _It's so pointless. At least when_ I _fight with one of them it's for good reason._ And now the noise was giving her a pounding headache.

"That's ENOUGH!" She yelled, and her brothers fell silent. For a moment, the only sound was her automail lung hissing and clicking inside the left side of her chest. "Stop fighting, you two. We're all stuck in this situation, we may as well make the best of it."

Ed and Al shared a nervous glance. They both knew that their sister, while as small as her twin, was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry.

"Okay, Sister, we're sorry, but who is this Carys? You sounded like you knew her. We'd at least like to know who we're going to be travelling with." Al finally spoke. "Will she get in the way?"

"I don't know her personally, but I've heard of her. I didn't know her title until now though." She explained. "She was certified a year before Edward and I, she was 13, the youngest recruit before us. As for why she's coming with us or how much of a problem she'll be, I have no idea. But we can't let her interfere, we need a plan."

The Elrics stood in silence for a moment, thinking.

"Why don't we actually meet her first? It'll be much easier to make a plan when we know what we're dealing with. Maybe we won't need one at all." Al suggested.

"Always the optimist, aren't you, Al." Katherine remarked, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Still, you're not wrong." She walked over and flung herself onto her bed, her metal arm and leg clanging together. "We should get some sleep if we need to be up before dawn. Goodnight, Alphonse. Goodnight, Edward."

"Goodnight, Sister," They replied in unison, as Edward turned off the light and climbed into the bed on the far wall, and Alphonse sat on the old couch.

Staring at the ceiling, Katherine couldn't help but feel sorry for the Ozone Alchemist. _She'll certainly have her work cut out for her keeping control of_ us. She thought, smirking. _After all, we're the Elrics, we're a team._

The sun was barely peeking up above the hills when the Elrics arrived at Central's train station. Ed and Al held their luggage while Katherine tugged nervously at her blue scarf, trying to hide the scar that covered the left side of her face and neck, pulling up her hood for good measure. There was barely anyone around at this time of day, but she still felt more than a little self-conscious.

"She's late." She said.

Ed yawned sleepily. " Where is she? I could be in bed right now."

"Clearly she's not looking forward to having to look after three kids for a month either."

"We're not kids, and besides, it's like you said yesterday, we're all stuck with this, she could at least show us the courtesy of showing up on time so we don't miss our train"

"Hi, are you the Elrics?"

The siblings turned to see a grinning dark haired girl dressed in a military uniform: a light gray scarf tucked under her collar and her jacket top left open. She was young, as Katherine had mentioned, and fairly tall-well _,_ at least compared to Ed and Katherine. "I'm the Ozone Alchemist, Carys Ansel. You must be Ed." She said, extending her hand for Alphonse to shake.

"Wow, I can see why they called you the Fullmetal Alchemist! And you must be the Sky Alchemist, right?" She added, turning to Edward. " Our specialties are quite similar, we should talk sometime."

Katherine was used to being confused with her brother, after all, who would let a _girl,_ especially such a young one into the military? But just because she was used to it didn't mean it wasn't still irritating.

"Excuse me," She interrupted, " But _I'm_ the Sky Alchemist, Katherine Elric. _This_ is Edward." She gestured towards Ed, who also looked a little annoyed for having his title messed up. "Alphonse is our little brother, he's not part of the military like we are."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't-we don't see a whole lot of female state alchemists. Nice to see more of us joining though!" She flashed Katherine a gin, mollifying her. Then she turned to Ed. " And you're the famed Fullmetal Alchemist! It's strange, somehow I imagined you as...taller."

Katherine cringed. _Wrong thing to say, lady_ , she thought, _here we go…_

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK TOO SHORT TO BE SEEN WITHOUT A MAGNIFYING GLASS, HUH?!"

"That's not what she said, Edward," Katherine and Al sighed in unison, restraining their brother to keep him from launching himself at the slightly taken-aback Carys.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, um…" She trailed off nervously, as Ed stopped struggling with his siblings and stepped back, crossing his arms and looking away sulkily. "So you're their, um, _little_ brother?" She continued incredulously to Al.

"Yes, it's kind of a long story…" Al replied nervously.

"Oh well I-Is that automail?" She asked. Katherine's left sleeve had been pushed back when she was holding on to her brother, exposing her glinting metal wrist. Katherine tugged it down quickly, but Carys had already seen it.

The Elrics exchanged a glance. They had assumed that most of the military knew their story at this point, but apparently not this girl.

"Yeah, it is. Most of my left side is made of automail." Katherine explained, blushing. She was incredibly self-conscious about her automail parts and the attention they drew. Then, turning to her brothers, she added, " You know, she's going to be tagging along with us for the next little while, she may as well know the full story."

Just then their train blew its whistle, and the four of them rushed to board it, Carys peppering them with questions "What story? Does it have something to do with the Stone? What is going on with you guys?"

So as they settled into their seats, Katherine told her about their parents, about their mother's illness, the failed human transmutation. It must have been the thousandth time she had told the story, but it still hurt to relive the memories. She could almost feel the throbbing pain that had filled the left side of her body as it had been torn apart on that night, and she had to fight to keep her voice from shaking as she remembered Ed, already missing a leg, giving up his own arm to save their little brother, while she watched helplessly, bleeding and barely alive the floor.

Carys' eyes widened as she listened. Katherine had no idea how much she'd known about the three of them before, but clearly most of this was news to her. Finally, when the story was done, Carys opened her mouth to speak, and Katherine braced herself for one of the many painful and difficult questions that were usually asked.

However, Carys' reaction was more than a little unexpected. "Wait, so you breathe with a metal lung? That's SO COOL. How does it take in oxygen? Does it use alchemy?"

Katherine barely had time to nod before the questions started up again. " Really? Wow! How does that work? What kind of transmutation circle do you use? Is that why you're the Sky Alchemist?" Suddenly she stopped, "Oh, god, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be asking you so much about this."

"No, it's fine. People are usually so busy feeling sorry for me, they don't usually ask me about my alchemy. It's kind of refreshing." Katherine smiled. "I used a special transmutation circle inside the automail that changes the air's composition around me into almost pure oxygen. A little like what Colonel Mustang does when he makes his fire. I've found other ways to use it too." She clapped, and a cloud appeared in the air. 'It's good for stealth and stuff."

"Also for almost suffocating people." Edward teased.

"Shut up brother." Katherine punched Ed's good arm with her metal one. "I didn't kill him, I just made him… think twice about who he was messing with."

"Ow! Hey, I'm already missing an arm, don't break my other one."

"Quit whining, I didn't hit you that hard."

About an hour or so later, the sun was up, and the group sat silently. Katherine had let her hood down, and her scarf had slipped down off of her face. A little girl in the seat behind her was peeking shyly at Al in his hulking suit of armour, and was enthralled by Ed's metal arm. She looked up at Katherine, and then gasped.

"What happened to your face?"

Katherine didn't reply, she just looked away quickly and pulled her scarf back up, embarrassed. The girl's mother pulled her away and started to scold her for bothering the other passengers.

Carys had apparently fallen asleep in the seat beside Katherine. She glanced at her, then back to her brothers across from her.

"Well? What do you guys think?" She asked, indicating their sleeping companion. "Will she be a problem?"

"I don't like her." Ed muttered, still sulking from their first conversation. "Calling me a pipsqueak… I'm not that short."

"I think she's nice. She doesn't seem like she'll get in our way much at all." Al said. "She probably won't be as overbearing as some of those other soldiers that follow Mustang."

"True. Besides, we outnumber her 3 to 1. If she wants to keep us from doing something, she'll have to be pretty resourceful. I don't know why Mustang sent her." Katherine added.

At that point, the conversation was ended as the train pulled into the station where they would catch another train to Xenotime with a hiss, waking Carys up. They gathered up their belongings and left the train, Katherine pulling her hood back up over her face as they set off for the town, and another clue as to the location of the Philosopher's Stone.

Carys was in a rather wistful mood when she woke up.

The dream had brought her back home, to the rolling hills, tiny rivers, and pine trees she missed so much. And her only true family left: Aunt Mara Lyn, Grandma Susan.

They would still be in that stone house beside the fishing brook, and awaiting the day when she came back home to them.

And she missed Toby, of course, her only friend in the world-well, besides the team over in Central, if they counted at all.

Her dream had sent her a comforting, yet lonesome feeling, and she found herself inching closer beside the other girl, who flinched very slightly, and pulled up her hood to her right side.

"Hey."

"...Hi."

"Don't get nervous, I won't bite you," she joked.

Katherine gave her a tiny smile in return, which Carys took as encouragement to keep talking.

"Sorry I got so personal earlier." She thought back to that morning with a sharp pang of guilt. She really _had_ been overpersonal. She had been assigned to _look out_ for the Elrics, _not_ interrogate them. She continued: "It was none of my business. It was extremely insensitive of me. I apologize."

Katherine's one visible eye widened for a fraction of a second, and she shook her head quickly.

"It's fine! I accept your apology. And I've had worse, trust me."

Carys nodded knowingly.

Those scars had come with a great deal of pain, she was certain of it.

And she had seen the curious look of the little girl earlier, and Katherine's reaction.

"Sorry," Carys replied. "It must be hard." She looked solemnly down into her lap.

"It's fine," the other girl repeated after a moment or two. "And at least I have these two boneheads here to keep me company." She gave Ed and Al an affectionate gaze as she finished.

Carys felt another stab, this one of bittersweet nostalgia.

 _If only you knew…_ She thought longingly to herself.

"So how do you use your alchemy?" Katherine inquired.

Carys slowly clenched her right hand. "I…"

 _She doesn't need to know about it_ right _now_ , she thought stubbornly to herself.

She relaxed, and let the hand unfold in her lap.

"...I use this." she held up her hand for Katherine to see the band on her index finger, its emerald stone engraved with alchemic symbols.

"This ring helps me manipulate the water density in air and change it according to what I need."

"Interesting," Katherine complimented.

"Thank you." she put her hand down self-consciously.

"So do you know why the Colonel sent you along with us?" she questioned.

Carys looked to the side.

"Well…"

 _"Carys Ansel, State Alchemist, reporting for duty!" Although the words sounded sincere, her expression was not, to say the least._

 _Colonel Roy Mustang merely twitched an eyebrow at her attitude._

 _"Ozone Alchemist." He replied petulantly. "Today I have a special assignment for you."_

 _"Hmm, an assignment? Aww, I was hoping you'd start talking about those miniskirts again."_

 _He scowled._

 _"I will disregard that statement if you would just sit and listen."_

 _"Ooh, scary." Cerys grinned crookedly. "Alright, I'm listening. Go on, Colonel."_

 _"Yes. But before I continue, there will be absolutely no objections, understood?"_

 _"Yeah, yeah." She flapped a hand._

 _"I'm assigning you to keep an eye on the Fullmetal Alchemist."_

 _"OK...wait, what?!"_

 _"You heard me."_

 _"The Fullmetal Alchemist? Are you kidding me?"_

 _"I rarely 'kid', Ozone."_

 _"I have no time for this!" She protested. "I have...you know what I still have to do!"_

 _"Yes, I am fully aware. But this is an assignment which you will not back down from."_

 _She tried to find another way out._

 _"Um...you know I hardly qualify-"_

 _"On the contrary, I think you'll be fine. It might even do you some good to get out of this office once in a while."_

 _"What's that supposed to mean? Just because I broke some chairs while racing down the hallway is no good enough reason to get me out of the office-"_

 _"My point exactly. We can't keep up with your 'destructive energy' all the time and you should understand that."_

 _"...Fine, whatever you say." she huffed._

 _"Report back to me when your mission is complete."_

 _She got up to leave, hidden reluctance making her seethe on the inside._

 _"Freaking Colonel," she muttered under her breath. "He knows I have to find...her."_

"...I don't know. Perhaps he just thought it would be good experience."

Yeah, right. As if the Colonel would ever have such a simple motive as that.

"Maybe," Katherine pondered. "So where do you come from?"

"Other than Central? Westersnow. But I...moved there from Aranta. How about you?"

"Resembol."

"The sheep wool trading region?"

"That's right…"

The two girls found themselves talking more and more as the train continued to roll its way down the tracks, and they found that maybe this trip would be a little more bearable than they thought.

* * *

They arrived almost an hour later in Xenotime. It had once been a prospering mining town that had made its living off of selling golden wares, but clearly the mines had dried up, and the town had seen better days.

'Which is why they're all the more likely to be developing a Philosopher's Stone."

Ed pointed out when Al commented on how run down the area looked.

"He's right." Katherine chimed in. "Their mines no longer produce gold, but a Philosopher's Stone would allow them to transmute it instead."

"But that's forbidden! Why would they risk it?" Carys asked, shocked.

"People will do anything if they're desperate enough. Besides, why would anyone bother to look into a small secluded town like this place? And since they already have a history of mining gold, it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary." Katherine pointed out.

Just then there was a loud crash from their right, followed by a man's voice yelling "Alisa!"

The four of them ran towards the source of the sound, to reveal a little girl trapped underneath a mining cart by one of the quarries. Katherine could see that she was crying, as a group of several large men tried hard to lift the cart off of her, to no avail.

"What happened?" Ed called to them. " Is she okay?"

One of the men, who had been kneeling in front of the cart turned.

"It's my daughter, she's trapped!"

Katherine ran towards the crying girl, Ed following close behind.

"Don't worry Alisa, we'll get you out of there." She told the girl, kneeling in front of her. "Just hold still for a minute, okay?" She held out her right hand comfortingly.

The little girl nodded tearfully, and took Katherine's outstretched hand. Katherine turned to look up a her brother, who clapped his hands together, then placed them on the cart. There was a flash and Alisa cried out, clutching at Katherine's hand. Then, the light faded, and the cart was gone, as Ed had transmuted it into a solid block of metal just in front of where he stood. The men stared in awe at her brother, silent except for a few impressed murmurs.

"There. Are you hurt?" Katherine asked Alisa, who shook her head. Then, the girl suddenly reached out and touched her face. It was then that Katherine realized that her hood had fallen away, and her scar was visible to everyone.

She tried not to flinch as the girl touched her left cheek.

"You're pretty," was all the admiring Alisa said.

Katherine blushed a brilliant shade of scarlet. "Oh.. thank you! I, um… So are you!" The girl giggled and smiled, as she got up off the ground.

"Alisa! Thank god you're okay." The man who had called to them before came and scooped her up. "Thank you." He said to the twins. He barely seemed to register Katherine's unusual scars. "That cart wasn't going to move, I don't know what we would have done without you."

"Really, it was nothing." Ed told the man. "It was just some simple alchemy, that's all."

"It wasn't nothing, you saved my daughter. I can't thank you enough. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Well… we do need a place to stay while we're in town. Do you know anywhere that could take the four of us?" Ed asked, pointing at his three companions.

"There's a nearby tavern that I'm sure has room for you four. And let me cover the cost it's the least I can do."

"Oh, you don't have to, we can cover it ourselves." Ed told him

"No, really, let me do this. Besides how would a couple of kids like you guys afford that?" Then he saw Carys' uniform. "Oh, are you with the military?"

"Well, yeah, we-oof!"

Katherine cut Ed off with a jab to the ribs. " _Actually,_ no, just Carys here, and she's just supervising us. We're really just a couple of kids looking to learn more about alchemy."

She shot her brother a warning look. _Nice going, Ed, let's_ tell _the people trying to break the law with the Philosopher's Stone that we're State Alchemists. Then they'll_ definitely _help us._

"Oh, alright then, that's fine." The man started to head up the quarry back to the road where they had come from, still holding his daughter in his arms "The tavern's this way, follow me!"

"' _Just_ supervising'?" Carys crossed her arms.

"Don't be upset, I just had to tell him that to let us in, otherwise we would have been kicked out." Katherine paused and groaned at an unpleasant memory. "Like always."

"Huh." Carys tilted her head to the side. "Well, at least it got us in."

She strode ahead faster.

Carys was pleased to find that she didn't have to slow down.

The Elrics (while decidedly smaller, with the exception of Alphonse) had a brisk pace, much like her own.

She smiled to herself wistfully as she thought of what Toby would have said about her long strides. "What's the hurry, Carys?" he would have asked, shaking his head in affectionate exasperation.

That was Toby for you. A true dreamer at heart, but a rather practical thinker on the outside.

Or at least, that's what people thought.

The man lead them into a pleasant enough tavern, with cheery lighting and many loud voices.

"I mean it. We sure were lucky to have a real-life alchemist like you show up when you did," the girl's father said, as they were seated at a round table.

"You mean me?" Carys asked excitedly. "The Ozone Alchemist?"

"...Uh, no."

"NOOOOO!" she wailed in exaggerated disappointment.

"There, there," Katherine murmured, awkwardly trying to pat her on the shoulder.

"I'm sure someone will know who you are someday."

Carys grabbed her hand, emotional. "You really think so?" Her eyes shone.

Katherine, somewhat confused at this moment in time, merely shrugged.

"Sure."

" _Then I will not give up until they do_!" she stood up on the table, much to the chagrin of Edward, whose plate had been stepped in by her left foot.

"I can't begin to thank you enough," the man continued to thank him, as Carys jumped down from the table.

"And don't forget about his metal father!" the little girl piped up.

Al went completely deadpan at this statement, making Ed snicker behind his hand.

"No, you've got it all wrong." he corrected. "Al's not my father, he's actually my younger brother."

"' _Younger_ brother'?" Alisa echoed. "But he's _so_ much bigger than you are!"

Now it was Edward's turn to deadpan. He went almost completely white with shock, while Al, Katherine, and Carys chuckled.

"Anyway," Al started. "We're both just glad you're OK, Alisa."

"Definitely," Katherine added. "That's the most important thing."

Just then, the door to the tavern burst open, making Katherine jump, and a man with dark hair burst in. "Alisa! Alisa, are you alright?" He asked, sounding a little bit panicked.

Alisa's face brightened at the sight of the man. "Uncle Belsio!" She cried gleefully, and went to greet him, but her father stopped her, his face clouded with anger. She turned to look at him, confused. "Daddy?"

But her father ignored her and turned to the man in the doorway. Katherine could feel the tension building in the room. "You've got some nerve showing your face here now, after almost getting my daughter killed!" Then he turned to his daughter, who looked to be on the brink of tears. "Listen to me, Alisa. No matter what he says, you are not to help him work."

"No, Daddy!" cried Alisa, tearing free. "None of that was Uncle Belsio's fault. I'm the one that begged him to let me help him!" Then she bent double, her body shaking with wracking coughs.

"I'm sorry, Alisa." the man's face went from angry to gentle. "Here, drink this."

He handed her a glass of water, which she drank, but it did little to stop the coughing fit.

Katherine got up from where she was sitting and went to kneel beside the girl. "Here, this might help." She clapped her hands together and changed the composition of the air around them into mostly oxygen, making it easier for Alisa to breathe. The girl's coughs subsided, and she smiled at Katherine. Katherine returned the smile, then hurriedly went back to the table with her brothers, still fidgeting nervously with her scarf.

Belsio still stood in the doorway, watching silently with a pained expression on his face. "I am sorry." he said, before turning to leave.

Alisa looked up at her father."Uncle Belsio told me that your lemon pies were always the best, Daddy. And that it was a shame all the lemon farms were shut down.I thought maybe, if I helped him, I could taste your pie."

"Don't worry! As soon as we create the Philosopher's Stone, we'll be rich and we can buy our fruit from some other town!" one of the other villagers told her.

Katherine stood up quickly at the mention of the Stone.

"Philosopher's Stone?" Ed asked, eagerly.

"Of course! You three must be here to help Mugear with the stone right? That is if your, uh, supervisor won't object?" The man asked, shooting a nervous glance at Carys.

"Oh, no, I'm not really involved in what they do, I'm just, well, here...:" Carys trailed off.

 _Way to sound convincing._ "It won't be a problem. we just want to help you, the military won't be involved, we promise." Katherine explained, lying through her teeth.

At this the townspeople began to chatter animatedly.

"Please do everything you can!"

"Work as quickly as possible!"

"Please save our town!"

"Wow, that's a lot of pressure on us! I guess we'll go visit Mugear now and see what we can do." Ed told the crowd, getting up to leave.

"Wait!" Alisa's father held out a hand to stop him. "Can we know the names of our saviors first?"

"Certainly!" Ed replied enthusiastically. "We're the Elrics. I'm Edward, the Fullmetal Alchemist, this here is Katherine, Sky Alchemist, and Al, our younger brother."

 _So much for pretending to not be a part of the military._ Katherine thought.

The room had gone strangely silent.

"The Elric brothers? State Alchemist, hero-of-the-people Elric?"

"Yup!" Edward said, sounding happy to be recognized, and completely oblivious to the angry and sceptical looks starting to show up on the faces of the surrounding crowd.

"Get out!" Alisa's father roared, picking Edward and Katherine up by their collars and tossing them out the front door with their suitcases, leaving little choice for Ed and Carys but to follow suit.

"Hey! What was that about?" yelled Edward, rubbing his head where he had whacked it against the hard ground.

"The real Elric brothers are already up there with Mugear, trying to save the town! Come back when you're ready to tell us who you really are!" He slammed the door shut, leaving the four of them to sit out in the cold.

"Now why would someone want to steal our names?" Edward wondered aloud.

"Yeah. And 'Elric _Brothers?_ ' What about me? I guess a _girl_ isn't worth the mention." Katherine said, sounding more than a little hurt. "I'll show _them_."

"I say we find out! let's break into Mugear's mansion tonight, and see what we can find." Edward proposed.

"Yeah, that's a good plan. And maybe we'll find some information on the Stone while we're inside."

"No, that's a bad idea. A very bad idea." Carys interjected. "Mustang sent me to keep you three out of trouble, you can't go breaking into someone else's home!"

"She has a point, you two, maybe we need to think this through some more." Al said.

"Well how else are we going to figure out what's going on here?" Edward demanded.

"I don't know."

"So it's settled then. Let's go." Katherine started off towards the mansion on the hill, her brothers following suit.

"I can't let you guys do this." Carys stepped into their path.

"And what exactly are you going to do about it?" Ed challenged.

Katherine watched Carys' gaze jump from one sibling to another. _Well_ , she thought, this _should be interesting._

 _I_ hate _being the bossy one._

Carys thought, irritated.

It was like the Elrics were _trying_ to make her the bad guy here.

Still, she had no choice.

Her primary goal was to make sure that the trio were safe, _well_ , out of trouble at least. So far, all she had virtually done was stand on the sideline.

And she was already sick of it.

' _Just a supervisor'_?

Yeah, right.

It was time to start taking things into her own hands, especially after her agreement with the Colonel.

The man may have seemed extremely condescending at times, but he sure knew how to strike a deal.

"Stand aside." Ed demanded, crossing his arms.

"No." she retorted, standing her ground. "I made a promise, and I intend to keep it. If you've got a problem with that, take it up with the Colonel."

"Oh, I will." Edward scowled. "And the first thing I'm gonna do is tell him not to set us up with any more babysitters!"

That struck a nerve with her. She hadn't been part of the military for more than 3 years only to have a younger boy dismiss her as a 'babysitter', even if that boy was the famed Fullmetal Alchemist.

She raised her fist, revealing the emerald ring.

Ed got into a lower stance, placing his hands tightly together in front of him as if praying.

"Guys! Wait." Katherine stepped in between them. "Don't fight. Please."

"She's right, Brother." Al agreed. "Think about this."

"I _am_ thinking about it," Ed retorted. "And if she's not going to move in the next minute, I'm still going to be walking up to that laboratory, whether she likes it or not!"

"We'll see about that." Carys smirked, despite the boiling tension.

The situation was getting rapidly out of hand. Katherine knew they wouldn't get anywhere by starting a fight with Carys, especially if they wanted to get back on Mustang's good side. Besides, the people of Xenotime had already taken a strong disliking to them, and somehow she didn't think that Edward and Carys fighting in the middle of town would make matters any better.

"No, we won't. Edward. This is idiotic." She stared him down.

 _Come on brother, use your head for once!_

"Carys, we'll stay away from the mansion for now. But tomorrow, we need to start investigating what's going on here. Got it?" She had gotten good at playing the peacekeeper, after 15 years of living with Ed and Al. Carys relaxed slowly, letting her hand drop to her side.

Edward however, was not so easily pacified. " Get out of my way Katherine! Let me show Mustang's stuck up watch-dog _exactly_ who she's dealing with."

"Who are you calling _stuck up_ , you little twerp?" Carys jumped back into her fighting stance.

" _Don't_ call me little!"

"Oh, please. You _barely_ come up past my waist. Fighting you will be like fighting a child!"

" _Shut up_!"

"STOP IT!" Katherine yelled as loud as she could, then clapped her hands.

Her brother and Carys both dropped to their knees and covered their ears as the air pressure around them rose painfully quickly.

Katherine let them sit for a minute, then gradually returned the pressure to normal. The two alchemists sat panting, and if looks could kill, both would have died the most painful death imaginable on the spot.

"Edward, we can wait until morning." She shot her brother a meaningful look. "Carys, so far I like you, but if you hurt either of my brothers that will change, very quickly, and trust me, _you don't want that."_ She may have been reserved and cautious most of the time, but if she thought her family was threatened, that caution was thrown to the wind. "Are we clear?" The two nodded, and stood up. Alphonse, who had been watching anxiously from the sidelines, let out a sigh of relief.

They headed off towards the hills to find a place to make a camp for the night, a feeling of edginess still lingering. The Elrics let Carys walk ahead of them, as they whispered quietly amongst themselves.

"We need to get inside that mansion, Mustang be damned." Ed muttered.

"But we said we wouldn't. We told Carys!" Al pointed out.

"I know what I said, but Edward's right. I only said that to keep you two from blowing up half of Xenotime." Katherine said. "We need to wait until her guard is down, then make sure she doesn't follow us."

At this, Edward's face broke into a wicked grin. "I have an idea…"

Carys groaned, rubbing her head.

"What in the bloody name of Amestris _happened_?"

She had been lying on the cold ground of what appeared to be a small broom closet.

It was dark, and one look around told her that there was no such shortage of dust and an assortment of cobwebs surrounding her.

She stood up quickly, swiftly swearing vengeance on whoever was responsible for one _monster_ of a headache.

"Hang on a second," she muttered. She put her hand to the throbbing on the back of her head.

She had a faint recollection of images come to mind: air swirling violently, and dirt flying at her...yelling, voices...the feeling of something very hard and metal impacting with her skull...a twisted grin on a boy's face-

"OH, HE IS SO DEAD!" she slammed her hand against the closet door. One twist of the knob told her that it was locked. She forced her body against the frame.

It shuddered, but didn't give under her weight.

Something told her that alchemy had come into play there, and yet another image flashed into mind: An apologetic look from a girl with a hood, and someone saying something like, " _...Didn't have to hit...so hard, Brother_!"

" _Nah, she'll be fine...tough skull...keep her from getting too damaged. Besides...could probably use some sleep."_

"...THEY ALL ARE _SO_ GOING TO BE UNDERGROUND BY THE TIME I GET THROUGH WITH THEM!"

First, to find a way out of this damned closet. She'd never hear the end of it if she let such a trivial thing defeat her.

"I'm going to have a talk with Mustang about any of these future assignments." she muttered.

But for now, the Elrics were likely at the mansion by that point.

And soon enough, if she could help it, she would definitely be joining them.

" _Yep_. I don't think I ever want to 'supervise' again."

"You know, you really could have been a little less rough with her." Katherine chided.

"Oh, let it go already. She'll survive, and it worked, didn't it?"

"I guess so. Still..."

Carys had only been trying to do her job. Katherine understood that, but what else were they supposed to do? Even so, Katherine couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt thinking about how they left her, unconscious and stuck in an old abandoned shed that Edward had sealed shut using alchemy.

"Are we really going to break in?" asked Alphonse, eyeing the huge walls that surrounded the mansion.

"It's the only way to clear our names and find out what's going on here." Ed clapped his hands together and placed them on the wall, creating a door for them to pass through.

They came through into the library. There were hundreds of volumes filling the towering shelves. Ed picked one up and examined it.

"These books are all on the Philosopher's stone. This must be where they're doing their research"

"Maybe this wasn't made obvious by the walls and the armed guards, but you're really not supposed to be in here." Katherine whirled around, and found herself face to face with an adolescent boy with an arrogant smirk on his face. Behind him, she could see a smaller boy, peeking through the doorway anxiously.

The older one eyed Katherine, with her face half hidden underneath her hood. "Hey, sweetheart. You lost?"

Katherine shuddered internally. _What a creep._ Then, something occurred to her. "Hey, are you guys the ones-"

"Stealing our names?!" Ed cut her off angrily.

"Oh, so you're the real Ed then, in the suit." The boy replied calmly, brushing his blonde bangs out of his eyes.

"Me?" Alphonse asked. "Oh, no, I-"

"I'M ED, YOU IDIOT!" Ed roared.

At this point, the little boy in the back spoke up. "So you're the...older brother? And who is she?" He pointed shyly at Katherine.

Katherine glared at Edward's impersonator, who towered over her.. "I'm Katherine Elric." She stated. "The Elric _sister_ you apparently forgot about."

"Oh really? I never heard about the sister before. What a shame. You look like you're cute under that hood." He leaned closer to her.

At this point, Katherine had had enough. She drew back her arm and punched the boy in the face, hard.

He flew back and landed several feet away, in the open doorway where the little boy stood. "Ow!" He wiped off the blood that had begun to trickle from his nose. "That actually hurt." He sounded surprised. "Your sister's tough for a girl." He told Ed and Al.

"FOR A GIRL? WHAT'S _THAT_ SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Katherine demanded.

But the fake Edward barely reacted. "I'd suggest you keep it down. Unless you want to let everyone else know you're here." Then he strode up to Ed and stood eye to eye with him-or at least as close as he could get considering he was more than a foot taller. "Now, I don't want to fight you, so why don't you run along back home, and let us do our work."

Ed crossed his arms and glared. "I don't think so. I don't take orders from anyone."

"Really? I thought a dog of the military would be used to be taking people's orders."

"I might consider it, if you got on your knees and begged."

"What, so we can see eye to eye?"

This was apparently too far, and now it was Edward's turn to take a swing at the boy. But this time he was prepared and easily dodged several of Ed's punches all while wearing that same condescending smile, and then striking back. Ed took the hit and spun backwards into a bookshelf. He raised his right arm to protect his head from the cascade of falling books, exposing his metal wrist..

"Automail, huh? I figured you were a little young to have seen any action."

"You have no idea." Ed flipped backwards, Aiming a kick that caught his opponent under the chin.

The boy's head snapped back and he stumbled, catching himself as he fell to the floor and springing to his feet. "You've got talent for such a shrimp."

"Insult my height one more time and I'll-"

"And you'll what, half -pint?"

Ed charged. "You're about to find out!"

Katherine had a feeling this was going to end badly. The guards would certainly hear the noise, They would be caught. _When will my brother ever learn to pick his battles?_

The boy jumped out of the way of Edward's attack, sending him sprawling to the floor. "You know, I'd always wanted to see what a genuine certified state alchemist could do. So far I'm not impressed."

 _Well, There's no going back now, at least I can give my brother a hand._ Katherine thought to herself, and then stepped forwards. "This must be your lucky day, because you've got two State Alchemists here."

The boy turned to her, surprised. "Really? You too, sweetheart? I'd have thought you'd be too delicate for the military. Why don't you let us boys sort things out ourselves?"

"Because if I did, nothing would ever get done." She charged and clapped her hands. The boy let out a laugh, and then gasped, clutching at his throat. "A little hard to breathe when there's no oxygen. Now, Ed!" She yelled to her brother, who had picked himself up off the floor, and now grabbed the boy from behind, throwing him to the ground.

He rolled, then got to his feet. "Nice, you don't need a circle." He turned and ran down a row of shelves. "But neither do I!" There was a red light and a column of stone shot out at Katherine. She would have been crushed, but Al grabbed her, tackling her out of the way.

"He has a Philosopher's Stone!"

Edward took her place, running at the boy. "Sister, give me some cover!"

"On it!" She clapped and the room was encased in fog, obscuring Ed and his foe from view. There were several loud crashed, until both of them came flying out of the fog bank. Katherine saw that her brother had the other boy by the throat.

They slammed into the ground, Edward pinning his opponent down as he gasped and clawed at his neck. "Tell me why you took our names, and tell me what you're doing here. Or ELSE!"

Just then, there was a noise from behind them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The guard pointed his rifle at Edward. "Step away from the Fullmetal Alchemist, boy, or I will put this bullet straight through your skull."

 _Dammit!_ This was bad. _I_ knew _we would get caught._

Edward didn't move. Katherine's heart pounded, and she fumed at her brother's stubborn stupidity. _Listen to the man with the gun, Ed… not even you can survive being shot point blank._

" _Now,_ kid." The guard demanded, brandishing his rifle. Ed still didn't move. "I SAID-"

Then the man's face froze, mid-bellow.

 _What the-_ He slumped to the ground, revealing another figure standing behind him. Katherine saw who it was and inwardly groaned. "Carys?"

 _Great, things just went from bad to worse._

The Ozone Alchemist glared at the Elrics. "More guards are coming." Her face contorted into an expression more rage-filled than Katherine had ever seen.

"AND YOU'D BETTER PRAY THAT THEY'LL BE EASIER ON YOUR ASSES THAN I WILL!"

Katherine gulped nervously. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen anyone look so angry. _We are_ so _screwed…_


	2. The Elric Brothers Part One (2 of 2)

Carys was so pissed. She wasn't sure she'd almost ever been that pissed at someone in her life.

"Carys?" Katherine sounded almost queasy.

She glared, hoping that it would at least scare one of the three in front of her.

"More guards are coming." she , glaring at them even more intensely, she roared out "AND YOU'D BETTER PRAY THAT THEY'LL BE EASIER ON YOUR ASSES THAN I WILL!"

"Who are _you_ supposed to be?" The boy pinned under Edward drawled at her.

Katherine winced as Carys turned her burning gaze onto him.

 _Not such a good idea, pal._

Carys scoffed. "I don't know who the heck you're supposed to be, and to be perfectly honest: I. Don't. Give. A. Damn." She stared him down."But if you even think about hurting one of these kids, I will make your life _a living hell_."

On that cheery note, she flung an arm back out at them.

"Let's move."

"Wait!" Ed protested. "I need answers-why are they using our names?! And why would they-"

Carys shot him a death stare. " _NOW_ , Edward."

Edward only finally moved when Alphonse stood and pulled him up forcefully.

"Come _on_ , Brother!"

Katherine got up to join them, and with that, they all sprinted towards the entrance.

Carys made sure that this time the Elrics stayed in front of her.

Fortunately, the number of guards they ended up passing was low, and they were quickly taken care of before they became too much of a nuisance.

They successfully reached the exit of the mansion, running out onto the grass.

Carys yelled "Go!" at the others, and spun around.

She raised her clenched right fist up to eye-height, then released it.

With a green glow, the water in the air reacted to her alchemical command, creating a dense screen of fog.

This would help keep any remaining pursuers off their tail for the moment.

"Nice touch," Katherine complimented, but still looked as nervous, as though Carys had grown a lion head or something.

Carys nodded in acknowledgement, but stayed stern.

"Keep moving!"

She took the other girl's arm and pulled her along, following Ed and Al.

When they had all finally reached a safe distance, Carys let go, and scowled at the trio, arms crossed.

"So what have you three to say for yourselves?"

She knew she sounded like a mother, and she disliked it.

But she just couldn't help it at this point.

"Look, I know you must be upset-" Katherine started.

"'Upset'? UPSET?"

"-We didn't mean you any harm-"

"Yeah, and besides, what we did wasn't even that bad-" This came from Ed, who looked much less apologetic than his sister.

"You talked behind my back, you knocked me out with a heavy automail arm and locked me in a shed using alchemy, while you three went against what we had agreed on earlier and risked getting all of us into a greater deal of trouble."

"...OK, when you say it like that, it does sound pretty bad."

"You're sure lucky that family was out, by the way. I had a rather difficult time explaining to them about the lengths my companions would take to get rid of me."

"We weren't trying to rid of you!, And we made sure that shed wasn't being used by anyone."

"Brother..." Al shook his head at him.

Ed relented. "Fine. But you can't ignore this just because it might get you in trouble! That's our names they've stolen. And we have a right to know why."

A couple seconds later, he added "And fine, I'm sorry about hitting you. It wasn't the right way to go about this."

Katherine could tell that the apology had been hard to come by, and appreciated her brother for just going ahead and saying it out loud anyways.

Carys pondered over this, and the Elrics all waited anxiously for her response.

"Alright," she finally said. "We'll get to the bottom of this. But no more knocking people out, -unless they ask for it- and we TALK about a plan first before jumping in."

"-And," she added, as they opened their mouths to protest. "If you ever try something like this again...there'll be _HELL_ to pay."

Katherine could have sworn her eyes gleamed red with anger for a moment there, and shuddered.

Carys went back to business. "Deal?"

This time it was Alphonse who answered for all of them.

"Deal."

It had been a long night. However, Katherine still couldn't sleep. Too much had happened that she had to think about first. And besides, while Carys seemed to have calmed down, she wasn't entirely sure she was ready to let her guard back down yet.

She turned to Edward, who was lying in the grass beside her. "You awake?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He sat up, rubbing the back of his head where he'd hit it on the bookshelf. "Man, fake me certainly had a few tricks up his sleeve. My head feels like hell."

"He had something giving him a boost." Katherine remembered the glowing red light. Then, something occurred to her. "Brother, do you think this means they've created a Philosopher's Stone? You saw what he could do. The only way he could do that without the Stone is if he'd seen the Gate."

"And we know he hasn't, since his body is in one piece."

"So does he have a Philosopher's Stone?" This came from Alphonse, who had come over to join them.

Ed frowned. "I don't know." he said. "But I'm gonna find out."

"Will you three keep it down?" Carys was frowning at them from where she was lying a few feet away.

"What, you didn't get enough sleep while you were locked in that shed?" Ed taunted.

This prompted death glares from both Katherine and Carys. _Really? You just had to remind her of that._

"I guess you're right, you guys did help me get some sleep in there," Carys said, her voice dangerously sweet.

"AND IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, I WILL HAPPILY RETURN THE FAVOUR!" she yelled, and the trio fell silent.

Katherine still felt a little guilty about what they'd done, but also couldn't help but feel a little annoyed as well. Carys hadn't really given them much choice in the matter, and _clearly_ was feeling fine after the incident. She sighed. Better just to forget about the whole thing.

Edward's cheek had started to swell, and a nasty bruise had formed. Katherine guessed that he had been punched there by the other boy. He leaned over and rested his face on the leg of Alphonse's armour. "You're so nice and cold. Like an ice pack." He told his brother.

Alphonse laughed at this statement. "Glad I could be of some comfort to you, brother." Then, after a pause, he added, "You know, I wonder what those two brother's names are. Or if they're even really brothers at all. And if the older brother is much older than you or just-"

Ed cut him off with a glare. "Size doesn't mean anything." He snapped.

Then, Katherine noticed a man walking up the hill towards them. She jumped up, thinking that maybe it was one of the guards having tracked them down all the way from the mansion. But then, she noticed that it was the man from before, who had apparently been responsible for Alisa's accident.

"If you need a place to board up for the night, come with me." He gestured for them to follow him back down towards the town.

Katherine looked behind her at Carys, Ed, and Al, who were also on their feet. She shrugged. _It's better than lying outside in the cold all night._ She turned and followed the man, everyone else keeping pace close behind.

The man, Katherine remembered that Belsio was his name, lived in a small house nearby. Katherine and Carys took one small bedroom, and Ed and Al took the other, giving the man their thanks. She was expecting to still take a while to fall asleep, but suddenly felt overwhelmed with exhaustion the moment she. sat down on the bed. She barely shut her eyes before she was out cold, still wearing her boots and her jacket.

She had gotten used to the nightmares, most of the time she could even sense that they were going to come. This one however, took her by surprise.

It started out happy, like they usually did. She was with her mother and father, back before Al was born, back before their father left. She and Ed were listening to him tell one of his bedtime stories, while he sat at the foot of Katherine's bed. She could smell his cologne, a smell she would never forget, that had lingered months after his disappearance. Their mother stood in the doorway, smiling and laughing. Then, there was a change. The smell turned from sweet to sour, like something rancid and rotting. Their mother's laughter turned into a malicious cackle and the room went dark. Katherine tried to move, but there was a stabbing pain along her left side. She couldn't breathe There were screams coming from somewhere. Was someone in trouble? Where was Mom?

"Mom? Mom?" She cried.

"Katherine!" She heard her mother's voice, but there was something wrong, something off about the sound of it. She looked up.

There, in the doorway was a hideous creature, hissing and inhuman. She screamed, but she still couldn't move, the thing with her mother's voice came closer, closer, and then opened her gaping mouth, swallowing everything and making the whole world go dark.

"Hey! Katherine, wake up!"

She awoke to the gentle shaking of hands on her shoulders.

When she rolled over, she found herself looking up into the worried face of none other than Carys.

"What...do you want?" she croaked, her throat as sore as if she had been screaming non-stop for the past hour or so.

"You were yelling out loud, and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Why do you care?"

The question was cold, and surprised her.

Carys bit her lip and looked to the side, unsure of how to deal with this question.

"I...had a bad dream as well," she admitted at last.

"Oh."

"So...do you want to talk about it?"

Katherine frowned at this.

"Look," Carys sighed, running a hand through her ponytail. "I get it, OK? I may have come off as rude and ignorant earlier, and probably a nuisance. Like I said before: I'm sorry for it. I completely understand if you don't want to tell me anything about it. It's fine. I just want to let you know you can trust me, alright? We may have only just met, but I think-" she ducked her head, and a crooked grin appeared on her face. "-I think it would be great to get to know you better.

" _All_ of you." she remembered the boys, who were in the other room.

Katherine didn't respond.

"All right, then."

As she started to lie back down, Katherine sat up and blurted out "I don't think you're a nuisance."

"...Oh? Do tell."

She bristled slightly at the teasing tone, but took a deep breath and continued.

"You're not rude, or ignorant. Maybe it may have seemed that way earlier, but now I can tell you're not that different from us. And I think I'm starting to understand why you were so upset earlier. It wasn't just because of Ed hitting you or because we went behind your back. It was mostly because you were worried, right?"

Carys was quiet for once.

"If you don't mind me asking...do you have any siblings?"

Carys' eyes widened, but she made sure her voice remained level.

She hoped that Katherine wouldn't notice.

"Why would you ask that?" she inquired calmly. She had to force her voice from shaking. It wasn't something she had had to do for a long time.

"Simple." Katherine stated. "You got worried for us, the exact same way I get anxious about my brothers."

"So you think because of that, I may have siblings as well?"

"Absolutely." Her voice was completely serious.

Carys let out a short laugh.

"Nice one. You found that one out pretty quick."

After a moment's consideration, she tilted her head as if in accordance.

"Alright. I _do_ have a sibling. A twin sister. Or at least I _had_ one, anyway."

"'Twin sister'?"

"That's right," Carys chuckled at the look of surprise on the other girl's face. "It appears you and Ed aren't so rare after all."

"What do you mean you ' _had_ one'? Where is she now, your sister? Did something happen to her?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions," Carys raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought _I_ was the pushy one."

"Tell me."

"Sorry, only one question per night!" she answered gleefully.

"No fair!" Katherine retorted, immediately regretting how much she sounded like a child.

"Life ain't fair, Miss Blue. Now, because I'm feeling generous, I will tell you this much: my sister is fine, for all I know. As to where she is at the moment...is still to be seen."

There was silence after that, during which the only thing that Katherine said moodily back was, "Don't call me 'Miss Blue'."

Little did they know, the boys in the other room had been listening with their ears pressed against the wall the entire time.

"Maybe you should give her a chance, Brother," Al suggested quietly.

Edward looked ahead, and didn't reply, but Alphonse could tell that he was thinking it over.

"We should go back to bed," he said at last.

And Al smiled inside, knowing that he had won.

Katherine didn't want to go back to sleep after that. She didn't want to start yelling in her sleep if the nightmares came back. And honestly, she was scared.

She shot a glance over at Carys, who appeared to be sound asleep once again.

 _So she has a sister. But what else is she hiding?_ Katherine wondered, thinking about the way Carys had dodged her questions. She had tried to seem playful, but the look on her face when Katherine asked about her sister told a different story, and it was one Katherine wanted to know. Maybe it wasn't any of her business, but this girl knew about their history.

Katherine wanted to know hers.

She was starting to think the Colonel had put them together on this mission for reasons other than just keeping them in line. That wouldn't surprise her at all, Mustang always had some kind of ulterior motive. Maybe he would tell her about Carys' sister when they got back to Central. She was on better terms with him than Edward was, she might be able to negotiate some kind of deal in exchange for information.

By dawn, Katherine gave up trying to sleep, and got up, heading into the main room of the man's house. Belsio was standing by the stove, cooking something in a pot. Ed and Al were already awake and sitting at the kitchen table. "Morning, Sister!" Alphonse greeted her cheerfully. "Did you sleep OK?"

Katherine was pretty sure that the answer to that question would become obvious by just looking at her, but didn't really want to talk about it, so she simply nodded vaguely and sat down.

"Thank you again for letting us stay with you." Ed told Belsio.

"Well, I couldn't exactly leave you kids out in the cold all night, now, could I?" He replied.

"But don't you want to know we are?"

"You're the Elrics, if that's what you say."

"You mean you believe us?" Ed asked, sounding surprised.

"No." Belsio admitted. "But I figure you must have a reason for wanting to hide your identities. None of my business what you call yourselves."

"Oh." Al sounded a little disappointed at not being believed. Then, "Where's Carys? Is she still asleep?"

"Yes," She replied. "Which reminds me, last night we were talking. She told me-"

"Good morning!" Carys strode in, looking wide awake, and cutting Katherine off. She sat down and smiled happily to herself. "So what were you all talking about?"

 _Great. A morning person._ Katherine stifled a yawn.

"So you don't seem to be as interested in the Philosopher's Stone as your neighbours." Ed said to Belsio, breaking the awkward silence that Carys' entrance had brought.

"Most of them are unwilling to forget the prosperity the gold mines brought to the town." He told them. "I personally think we need to look to other solutions before chasing after myths and legends. But Mugear has most of them completely in his thrall."

The door to the house opened, and Alisa, the young girl from the day before came in. "Hello Uncle Belsio!" She greeted him.

"Hello Alisa. If your father finds you here, he won't be happy." He warned her.

She giggled. "Don't worry. He's so busy talking about the gold mines he won't even notice I'm gone." Then, she noticed the group sitting at the table. "Oh, hello, fake Elrics!"

Edward frowned at the 'fake' label, but Alphonse simply smiled and waved hello.

Then, Alisa noticed Ed's cheek, which was even more swollen than it had been the night before.. "That must hurt. Did someone punch you 'cause you were telling lies?"

This irritated Ed even further. " _I'm_ not the imposter here kid. I did get clocked by one of them, though."

"Oh, it was _you_ that broke into Mugear's mansion last night?"

Katherine realized that the town had clearly heard about last night's incident. That _probably won't make them trust us any more._

"Well, we were trying to figure out why they were stealing our names! And besides, it's a major crime to make gold with a Philosopher's Stone. We are so going to take them down." Ed burst out.

"Brother!" Alphonse protested, as he has noticed that Alisa was on the verge of tears. Her father was one of the ones that was committing that 'major crime'.

Edward didn't say anything, but turned and stormed out of the cottage.

"Brother!" Katherine followed after him, sending an apologetic look over her shoulder at Belsio as she left.

"Don't worry about it, little one," Carys reassured Alisa, who still looked upset.

She took a sip from her mug.

"I'm sure your father is fine. He seems like...a good man."

This seemed to cheer the little girl up a bit.

"Yes," she answered brightly. "Daddy is the greatest!"

"You see? You got nothing to worry about." Carys smiled, reaching down a hand to ruffle the girl's hair.

"Uncle Belsio's great, too," Alisa stated.

Belsio turned and gave her a small smile. "Don't let your father hear you say that."

"Why not?" Alisa demanded stubbornly. "It's true!"

Belsio chuckled fondly. "Only if you say so, Alisa."

"So, Al." Carys suddenly addressed the suit of armor. "You're their younger brother. Should we go after them?"

Alphonse paused before shaking his head or helmet, in this case.

"Brother needs to let off a little steam. I'm sure Sister will be able to calm him down after a while. He just hates not knowing things."

"He seems to hate a lot of things," Carys muttered, taking another sip.

Al noticed the barely hidden resentment in her tone.

"Brother doesn't hate you, Carys. He's just not good with people...give him some time to get to know you. He's really just a big softie, deep down."

"I find that hard to believe," she murmured quietly to herself.

"But I guess we all deserve a chance."

"Hey, big guy?" Belsio looked at Alphonse.

Al straightened. "Yes?"

"How would you like to run down to the pharmacy for me today?"

"What do you need?"

"Elisa needs her medicine and your brother...he could probably use a cold compress." Belsio replied.

"Let's go," Carys got up abruptly, striding out towards the door.

Alphonse had no choice but to follow.

"My word! Don't look now, but one of those charlatans just walked in!" the lady shopkeeper pointed accusingly at Alphonse.

"The gall of him showing his deceitful face in here! And you just know they were the ones who broke into Mugear's mansion last night and tried to rob him!"

Carys frowned at her. "No need to get so worked up, ma'am. We don't mean any harm."

"And you! Military, isn't that right?" the woman put her hands on her hips, giving her a disapproving, yet fearful look.

Carys dipped her head, feeling almost ashamed. "Yes."

"Hey! You! What're you doin' here?" A man demanded them crossly.

" I- I just need to get some medicine." Al mumbled.

Carys crossed her arms, now starting to get mildly irritated.

"Bloody Amestris. Look, for the last time: he doesn't mean any offense. We're just here for a little girl's mede-"

"We don't want any military sniffin' 'round." The man cut her off rudely. "And we don't have nothin' here to keep you from tellin' lies, so go on an' get out!"

"Great. Now how am I gonna get that medicine for Elisa?" Al looked depressed after their removal from the shop.

Carys looked down and pulled at the sleeve of her uniform.

"Maybe I should just wear something more undercover…" she thought aloud.

"Uh, excuse me." A smaller boy about 12 or 13 approached them shyly.

"I can buy that medicine for you, if you let me. To make up for me borrowing your identity."

"So you're that kid who's pretending to be Alphonse here?" Carys gestured at Al.

When the boy nodded, she tilted her chin, thinking.

"In that case, lead on."

"Thank you, very much." Al thanked the boy, taking the paper bag from him. "I guess both of us have older brothers who let their tempers get the better of them."

"Aren't you mad at us?"

" I figure you have your own reasons." he responded evenly.

"I'm sorry." The boy ducked his head. "For us to work with Mugear, we had to have some credibility. The only way my brother could pass for a State Alchemist, as a teenager, was to claim he was the famous Edward Elric."

"Huh. That shorty really is quite famous," Carys remarked. "Interesting. So your brother took his name, and you took Alphonse's. Not a bad set-up. Evidently the people around here were just clueless enough to not know anything about their physical differences, or their sister. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

"You want a Philosopher's Stone that badly?" Al questioned.

"My father, he devoted his entire life to working on the stone." The boy explained. "So now, out of love for Dad, my brother insists on completing his research."

"That's the opposite of my family. Our father was also an alchemist, but my brother hates him for it. He was obsessed with the science, and our mother suffered because of it, especially when he left her, and us."

Carys stiffened at this reveal.

"That...must have been so hard on you," she murmured.

After a moment, he nodded solemnly.

"Listen, if your brother's doing something you know is wrong, please, just be brave and stop him." He told the boy.

"We don't want to hurt you or your brother. But if he might be causing people any harm, he needs to know."

Al finished with, "It's tough, I know, but if someone else has to intervene, it'll only hurt your brother more."

It took close to an hour for Katherine to track her brother down. He had spent the morning talking-though interrogating might have been the better term-to the townspeople about the so-called "Elric Brothers", from what she could tell, as she picked up on the irritated mumblings and looks of those she passed.

The few people she'd asked had either been cold and vague, or outright aggressive.

Her personal favourite had been an old man who had clearly seen her the day before when she had taken her hood off, seeing as he had spat at her feet and called her a "mutilated witch". It had taken all of her self control to keep herself from taking a swing at the man, but instead she just pulled her scarf up a little higher over her scar and walked away.

When she found Edward, he was sitting on the hill where they had stayed the night before.

"Are you done sulking?" She asked him, a little sarcastically.

He frowned at her. "I wasn't sulking, I was thinking."

"Right. I'll take your word for it." She settled down beside him in the grass. "Also, you really need to improve your people skills. I don't know _what_ you said to some of those villagers, but they acted like you'd murdered their families."

"I just asked them some questions is all. And it's not as if they liked us in the first place, how much more could they hate us?" He retorted.

"I don't know, but you should have _heard_ some of the things they said to me, and I just asked them if they'd seen you."

This seemed to anger her brother. "What? What did they say?" He demanded.

She dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand. "It's nothing, I've heard worse. But I don't actually think I've heard anyone call me a 'deceiving vixen' before, that one was new." She joked, trying to change the subject. "What did you find out?" She asked, after a pause.

"God, I can't wait to get my hands on that lying, arrogant little… He's been offering to fix people's tools and equipment, but _completely_ ignoring the laws of equivalent exchange!"

"That's impossible! He can't do that unless… Wait, the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yeah. I think they must have found a way to create one. If we can get it from them…"

"We get our bodies back." _And I can finally stop hiding under this stupid hood._

Then, she noticed something, a figure headed into town, with a familiar head of blonde hair. She nudged Edward to get his attention. "Look…"

He jumped to his feet. "That's him! Let's go, Sister, it's time to get some answers." He took off down the hill towards the boy.

"Brother…" Katherine started, but Edward was already gone, leaving no choice for his sister but to break into a sprint after him and the imposter boy, back into Xenotime.

* * *

 _Father, father!_

 _What is it, Carys?_

 _Sis and I were playing, and I found this cool ring in your office! What's it do?_

 _...That's a lesson for another day, sweetheart. But here, why don't you keep it for now?_

 _Whoa! Really?_

 _Of course._

 _Oh, and one other thing: make sure not to play in my office when I'm not there, alright?_

 _OK!_

Carys bowed her head, smiling wistfully at a memory.

She was then thrown off her train of thought, as a teenage boy came barrelling around the corner. "Brother, let's go!" He yelled to the little boy, who turned to follow him.

"Wait!" Al called after him. "Tell me your real name first!"

The boy stopped and grinned, as his brother disappeared around the corner of a building. "It's Fletcher!" He responded, before turning and running away.

Carys had no idea what had just happened, but before she could even open her mouth to ask, Edward suddenly appeared, out of breath.

"Brother?" Alphonse asked. "Why are you running?"

"That imposter is around here somewhere! Have you seen him?" He demanded.

Al looked away nervously. "No…"

"Edward! Slow down!" Katherine finally caught up to her brother, panting and coughing.

Edward curled his hands into fists. "That stupid, unethical-abusing the Laws of Equivalent Exchange like that!"

Carys and Alphonse shared a confused look.

"What do you mean 'Abusing the Laws of Equivalent Exchange'? And was that the fake Edward?" Carys asked.

"That's him. And Ed found out he's been going around town fixing people's tools, but ignoring Equivalent Exchange altogether." Katherine explained, having finally caught her breath.

"But that's the fundamental Law of Alchemy! You can't create something from nothing, unless you had-"

"The Philosopher's Stone." Katherine confirmed. "It's the only possibility that makes any sense."

Edward turned to his sister. "Let's break in again tonight."

"Again? After just one night? I don't think that's such a good plan, Brother, they'll be expecting us."

"But that's exactly why they won't expect us! They'll think we wouldn't dare to try and break in again."

"I'm not sure I _entirely_ agree with that logic. You could be wrong, and then we're in trouble. Even the four of us can't take on an army of gunmen."

 _Though_ some _of us would be just reckless enough to try._

She remembered Ed staring down the man as he had leveled his rifle directly at Edward's face. She had absolutely no desire to repeat that experience.

"We'll go in a different way. We'll avoid any guards we might come across. Trust me on this, Katherine. I need answers and I need them now!" Ed replied, his voice rising.

Katherine was tired, and she was sick of her brother diving head first into everything. "We can wait! We need a plan! Edward, this is a terrible idea!"

"Oh, because you're so smart, Miss I-Know-Everything. Do you have a better plan?" He challenged.

"No, but that doesn't mean I'm not right about this! Let's think about this!" Katherine tried to reason with him.

"Why do you have to think about everything? I have a feeling about this, it's what we need to do! Listen to me for once, Sister!"

"Oh, I'm supposed to let you risk your life, _our_ lives on a feeling? Great, excellent plan." She snapped. She did _not_ have the energy for this.

"Shut up! Stop acting like you know everything!" Edward stepped threateningly towards his sister.

"Stop acting like an arrogant child!" The two were now nose to nose, the pressure growing by the second.

Carys glanced at Alphonse, who stood back from his older siblings, looking nervous. If someone didn't do something now, she was afraid of what would happen.

"Hey!" She yelled, stepping in between the twins. "Both of you need to calm down. Please."

When the two turned to face her at the same time, she took a deep breath and continued. "This will get us nowhere. Now, if either one of you want to figure out what's really going on, we need an actual plan."

"I have a perfectly good plan-"

"Shut up, Ed."

"Why, you-"

"ENOUGH. I didn't come along to get into arguments or listen to siblings bicker with one another. I came to help you three with your mission, which is what I would be happy to do, once you guys be quiet and learn to _cooperate_."

There was silence.

"Good." Carys sighed in relief. "Now, first things first: we need to figure out how to get in without getting noticed. Ed, you and your siblings more than deserve answers. But Katherine also has a point: even with three State Alchemists, so many guards will be a problem."

"So what are you proposing, exactly?" Ed inquired, raising his eyebrows.

"We can't use a frontal attack. Even with an element of surprise, we'd be quickly outnumbered. Sneaking in is risky, even if we use a different entrance. And that is precisely why we'll need…" she half-grinned as she finished.

"...A diversion."

Katherine was still not particularly comfortable with this plan. But she was outvoted on this one, despite her arguing that they really should wait and think about it some more.

So now she and her brothers waited just outside the walls of Mugear's mansion, where sure enough, there were numerous guards patrolling the grass. Those were Carys' problem, for the moment. She was off planning her little 'diversion', whatever it was supposed to be. They were just waiting for her to give the signal so they could get that was, they had no idea, when Katherine had asked, Carys had just smiled and replied with "You'll see."

"You'd better pray this works brother." She said to Ed, who was crouched low beside her and Al. "Because if it doesn't I will kick your ass." Then, after a pause, she added, "That is assuming we're still alive."

Just then, she heard a yell. She looked up, and sure enough Carys stood perched on top of the wall. Then, she raised her hand, her ring glowed, and she disappeared behind a cloud of mist.

The guards took off after her, leaving the mansion open to attack.

"Let's go!" she said to her brothers, taking off towards the side of the house.

The mansion's guards stood their ground warily as the fog descended all around them, waiting for an attack.

All of a sudden, there was a noise like a gunshot across metal, and a fellow guard went sprawling at their feet. He lay there, groaning.

The guards looked up, but too late.

There was another popping noise, and a force like a barrier knocked them all over. There were many loud shouts in surprise.

Out of the darkness and mist came a teenage girl with a long dark ponytail and dressed in a blue military uniform.

On her right hand, an emerald-colored ring glowed with an eerie light.

She smiled menacingly, cracking her knuckles against one another.

"Hello, _boys_."

"Time for operation Mole-Hole!" Edward announced as they reached the wall. He clapped his hands and placed them on the dirt, creating a tunnel leading underneath the mansion.

"I still think that's a stupid name." Katherine informed him, still a little bitter after their earlier fight.

"Ladies first, sister." Was Edward's only response, as he nudged her roughly into the tunnel. After this, they were going to meet up with Carys inside the mansion, once she eventually lost the guards.

They emerged into a small chamber, with a strange red glow. she climbed out of the hole, to see a small stream of a strange, pulsing, red fluid flowing through the room.

"What's this?" She asked.

Edward left the tunnel close behind her, and bent to examine the substance."Oh, so that's their plan." He muttered, half to himself.

"Plan? Brother, what is this stuff?" Alphonse questioned.

"It's red water. I read a book about it in central. It's a solution of alchemical compounds that can theoretically be used to create an imitation of a Stone, when you put it under a few megatons of pressure.. Apparently, these kids are trying to use it to make the real thing!"

It was at this point that Katherine began to notice something was wrong. The right side of her chest was starting to burn, and breathing was getting increasingly more difficult.

"Brother..." She began.

Edward started coughing, cutting her warning short.

"Ed!" Al cried. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just having... a little trouble... breathing..." He gasped, then collapsed into his brother's arms.

"Edward!" Katherine called out, but it came out as more of a rasp. Her right side _really_ hurt now. "Alphonse, there's something wrong with the air. I think my automail's filtering some of it out but we need to get out of here."

"Hey! This way!" there was a little boy standing at the end of the hall.

"Who's there?" Alphonse yelled.

"It's me!" It was then that Katherine recognized him as the younger boy she'd seen in the library the previous night. "Come on! Hurry!" He called again.

Somewhere in her oxygen-starved brain, Katherine was aware that this could very likely be a trap. But Edward was unconscious and she wasn't far behind him, they needed to leave now. So they ran, Katherine supported by Al, towards the end of the hall and the little boy, leaving the mysterious red water behind them.

* * *

They reached a bright room at the end of the tunnel, all of them happy to be out of range of that strange, murky red water.

"Feel any better, Sister?" Al set her down on the floor gently.

"Yeah, thanks." she answered gratefully. "The air is clear now."

He laid Edward on the floor beside her. After a few seconds he came to, sitting up and looking around, disoriented.

"Where am I?" he asked. Then, noticing the little boy, "Hey, what are you doing here!"

Fletcher shrank back nervously. He opened his mouth as if to answer, but made no sound.

"So what's up?" came a voice from above that practically scared the heck out of all of them.

It was none other than their military friend, peeking down at them from what appeared to be a small ventilation shaft.

"Carys!" Al exclaimed.

"Don't _do_ that!" Edward snapped, as she jumped down to join them.

"Get used to it." she smirked. "Anyways, sorry for taking so long. I ran into a few...complications."

"How did you get past all of them?" Al asked.

"I have my ways."

Katherine shuddered to think what kind of 'ways' Carys might have used. Then, her attention turned back to Fletcher, who was watching them anxiously from the corner.

"So what _are_ you doing here?"

"I'm sorry…" He replied, quietly, looking upset.

"Sorry for what? What did you do?" Edward demanded.

Fletcher was now too terrified to respond.

"It isn't what you said, is it, Fletcher?" Al prompted, "It's what you didn't say. If you know something, please tell us."

Fletcher nodded, looking ashamed. "That red water. It's a toxic substance, as you probably realize by now. But it's also the vital ingredient for making a stone."

"Is that what's been making the people of Xenotime so sick?"

"I'm so sorry!" Fletcher looked like he was about to cry. Katherine felt like giving him a hug, but instead hung back.

Edward jumped to his feet. "Ok, first thing's first, let's demolish this lab."

"I can't let you do that." Fletcher's brother stood in the doorway.

"Russell?" Fletcher took a step back from the Elrics.

Russell ignored his little brother and instead stepped in front of Edward. "My father devoted his life to this research. You aren't going to destroy his legacy, while we're on the verge of a breakthrough!"

"You're willing to endanger the lives of an entire village, just for your father's legacy?" Katherine asked him. _What kind of person is willing to do that?_

Russell glared at her. "Stay out of this, sweetheart." he warned her.

"My name isn't _sweetheart_ , and you didn't answer my question. Why are you hurting these people, just to honor your dead father?" She stepped towards him.

"Shut up!" He yelled, knocking her aside. Katherine heard him let out an audible gasp as her hood fell away.

"What the hell is wrong with your face?" _Not your 'sweetheart' anymore, now am I?_

Before Katherine had a chance to reply, Carys jumped in. "Hey! Leave her _alone_!" She hissed venomously, raising her hand to reveal her emerald ring.

But Russell didn't move. "My father gave up everything for this breakthrough, Elric." He said to Edward, who was still in front of him. "If you think I'm going to give up now, because a couple of people have coughs, you're mistaken. He touched the wall beside him, a ring around his finger letting off a familiar red glow as he transmuted a sword from the concrete.

"A fake sword, from a fake stone, huh?" Edward taunted. "I think I can top that." He transmuted his automail, forming it into a metal blade of his own.

The two boys ran at each other and met head on in the center of the room, sword colliding with sword. But Ed's was stronger, and Russell's cracked into tiny pieces on impact.

Edward smirked. "Mine's the genuine article!" He bragged, but Russell simply stepped back and touched the wall again.

But this time, instead of transmuting a weapon, he formed what appeared to be a giant hose.

"Red water, straight from the tap." He told Ed. "Come into contact with this stuff, and you'll lose a lot more than your consciousness!"

Edward looked unphased by this. "Let it rain!" He cried defiantly, transmuting his arm into a shield, blocking the onslaught of the glowing, toxic chemical.

"Brother!" Katherine leapt to her feet and ran to her brother's side. She clapped, changing the air pressure to form a barrier in front of , the water pressure was starting to grow as well, and leak around the sides of the invisible wall, soaking the ground at their feet.. "Carys! I could use some help here!"

Carys' ring glowed and the barrier strengthened, but it was becoming clear that they wouldn't be able to hold out forever. A moment later, a jet of red water forced it's way towards Edward, hitting his shield hard so that he stumbled. And then Ed was falling, towards the deadly substance covering the floor. Katherine screamed and reached for him-

But before she could even move, there was a flash, and then Ed was across the room, and lying in his place at her feet, covered in red water, was-

"Fletcher?!"

"Brother!" Russell dropped the pipe and ran towards the little boy, taking him in his arms. "Brother, hang in there!"

"Russell, we have to stop this! Dad wanted us to help people, don't you see? And all we're doing here is hurting them. It… It doesn't matter who gets credit anymore, because-" He paused, grimacing in pain, "Because Dad would be ashamed if he could see what we've done!"

Russell opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, there was the sound of a whistle blowing, and everyone turned to look towards the doorway, as footsteps approached. The guards were on their way.


	3. The Elric Brothers Part Two (1 of 2)

There was silence for a moment, no one in the room moved. Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Mister Edward? Are you alright in there?"

"I'm-Everythings fine!" Russell called, his voice shaking. "They were supposed to leave me alone in here!" He muttered anxiously.

Edward got to his feet, brushing himself off. "Maybe they don't really trust you. Though I can't see why, except, you know, _lying_ about who you are."

As Russell started to reply, Fletcher suddenly got up and limped over to the door, which the guards were still pounding on. He took some chalk out of his pocket, and drew a transmutation circle.

"Fletcher? Be careful!" His brother warned him.

Fletcher ignored this, and placed his hand over the transmutation circle. He closed his eyes, concentrating. Then, a tree formed, covering the doorway, and sealing it shut with it's thick branches. "Run for it! Hurry!" He told them.

Katherine looked to her brother, who was staring down Russell, then at Al who was watching Fletcher anxiously. Neither of them looked keen on leaving, and Katherine wasn't either. Fletcher was the reason Edward was alive, and he was badly hurt. Besides, they still hadn't gotten all of the answers they came for.

"If they find you here, all of us will pay! Please go!" Fletcher was practically begging now. "I can explain everything to you later, just get out of here!" The door shook, and it wouldn't be long before it gave way, even with Fletcher's alchemy.

Staying here and getting caught wouldn't get them anywhere. Katherine ran towards the only exit, a window overlooking the mansion's courtyard. Edward still looked like he planned to stand his ground, but Carys quickly put a stop to that.

"Let's _go,_ pipsqueak." She grabbed his arm and dragged him along behind her, ignoring his loud protesting.

Katherine smashed through the window pane, turning and protecting herself with her automail so as not to get slashed by the glass shards. Landing on her side, she rolled to her feet. Alphonse and Edward followed her, then Al lifted Carys through the opening, so that she could avoid the glass as well, not having any armour or automail to protect her skin. They sprinted across the back lawn, which was surrounded only by a wrought iron fence, which all of them easily climbed.

It was late, and they tried to sneak back into Belsio's place as quietly as possible. Which was not very, they were four people, two with automail and one in a large suit of armour. As a result, there was a lot of whispering and clanking.

"Ow! Ed, you stepped on my foot!"

"Sorry, Carys."

"Shh! Quiet, both of you!" Katherine shushed them.

"You're one to talk. Do you have to _breathe_ so loudly?"

"Yes, you idiot, one of my lungs is automail! What else am I supposed to do?"

"Sister, Brother, don't start fighting."

"I was _just_ saying-"

Katherine was cut off mid-sentence as Belsio, who had been sitting in the dark un-noticed by the group, spoke causing them all to jump. "Busy night up at the mansion, huh?"

Ed chuckled nervously. "Heh-well, yeah, you could say that."

"The second night in a row. There's not much hope for you, is there."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katherine asked, but Belsio ignored her.

She rolled her eyes and went to go into the bedroom she and Carys had been using, but was surprised to find that one of the beds was occupied by the sleeping Alisa.

"Alisa's still here?" Carys asked, peeking into the room over Katherine's shoulder.

Belsio sighed. "Her father will be furious, but she refused to leave and she's as persistent as you four. With her coughing like that, I had to put her to bed. One of you girls will have to sleep on the couch tonight." He explained apologetically.

"I'll sleep out here tonight." Katherine volunteered, thinking back to her nightmares from the previous night. She cringed. _At least this way if it happens again, I won't wake anybody up._ As nice as Carys had been about the whole thing, she didn't want to be seen as some poor little girl who cried for her mother every night.

Belsio just nodded. "Now then," he gestured for them to have a seat in one of the chairs in the living room, "I think you kids owe me an explanation."

* * *

They told the man their story, and he listened intently. Katherine watched his face to see what he thought, but his expression was unreadable.

When they reached the part about the red water, he stopped them.

"Red water?"

"They're trying to crystallize it, to form it into an alchemical amplifier." Katherine explained, not entirely sure how much Belsio knew about alchemical science.

"But it's just a cheap imitation of the Philosopher's Stone." Edward added. "Stupid. They're wasting their time."

"Remember, his father devoted his life to that research." Alphonse reminded him.

Edward shrugged. "Probably another lie." He said, skeptically.

Belsio paused for a moment, thinking. "Unless they're the sons of Nash Tringham."

At this, Edward jumped up. "Nash Tringham? _He's_ the theorist on red water whose work I was reading! He came up with the whole idea! How do you know him?"

"We grew up together here in Xenotime, until he moved to Central to compile his research. He was gone for years, until one day he came back…" He paused for a minute, reliving a memory inside his mind. "But something was different. I asked him why he was back, how his research had gone. He told me he'd abandoned the project, that he was a failure. He refused to say anything about his work in central.

"That was before Mugear, the town's biggest land baron, got ahold of him. He convinced Nash that his research was the town's only hope, and Nash eventually gave in. He disappeared into the caves to conduct his research. And then gold returned to the town, and we prospered. But then a strange illness began to spread, one that even our gold couldn't buy a cure for, because there wasn't one. Many small children succumbed to the illness."

Katherine heard Alisa coughing from the bedroom, and made the connection in her brain. "Alisa was born around then, wasn't she?"

"Yes. She would have died as well, had it not been for an alchemic doctor, Dr. Marcoh, who passed through. He told us that she had come into contact with red water. But he used some kind of red, glowing stone to do something, and it kept her alive."

"Wait, it glowed?" Edward asked him.

Katherine locked eyes with her twin. She knew what he was thinking. The doctor's tool could be the real stone.

Belsio continued with his story. "I confronted Nash about the red water. He was fraught with guilt about something, said he was sorry, and that he was going to put a stop to this whole thing. But that was the last time I saw him, and soon after, gold supplied dried up and the town was suffering again. So if those are Nash's sons, they must be looking for their father, or his work."

Belsio stood up. "That's all I know." He told them. "And it's late, I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Elrics" He went into his bedroom and closed the door behind him, leaving them to sit in silence.

Edward looked angry. "So they really are doing all this for their father? Even though he stopped when it was hurting the villagers? Those arrogant, ignorant-"

"Brother?" Alphonse sounded upset.

"What is it Al?"

"Is it wrong? They just wanted to be closer to their father."

"They're just using their dad to justify their own selfish actions!"

"Maybe. All I'm saying is, I know how they must feel."

"Whatever." Edward got up and stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"Brother!" Al followed, leaving Katherine and Carys alone in the living room.

"Your brother certainly likes his dramatic exits, doesn't he?" Carys pointed out.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Holy Amestris, yes. Back when we all lived in Resembol, a day wasn't complete without mom having to convince Edward to come out of his room because he'd gotten in a fight." She let out a laugh, then sighed.

 _Mom…_

Then she glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It _is_ late. We should go to sleep."

"Okay. Are you sure you're okay sleeping out here?" Carys asked.

"Yes, it's no problem. It doesn't make any difference where I sleep." _Which is true. I never sleep well, no matter where I am._

Carys paused, frowning, then shrugged. "Okay, suit yourself. Goodnight!" She whispered, closing the bedroom door quietly, so as not to wake Alisa.

Katherine blew out the oil lamp before setting her coat and boots on the floor. Then, she settled onto the couch and pulled a blanket over herself. It was going to be another _very_ long night.


	4. The Elric Brothers Part Two (2 of 2)

"I'm so sorry those imposters stole your identities! I was completely fooled by them-we all were, I'm ashamed to say. Of course, I knew the _real_ Edward had an automail arm, and I eventually noticed that the imposter had none."

The older man apologized.

"He also has a sister." Katherine muttered under her breath.

This was Mugear, the scientist rumored to have been working with the fake Elrics to make a Philosospher's Stone.

They had all gone to the mansion this morning, with the news that they were to be received as guests. Naturally, this was suspicious, but they had had no choice.

"...I'm sure you must have work to do." Mugear continued. "But since you all are really such accomplished alchemists, there's a matter I'd like your help with."

"Something to do with red water, by chance?" Ed folded his arms.

"Oh, so you have heard about it! That'll spare me from having to explain," The scientist approached them.

Carys narrowed her eyes at this statement. There was something off about it, she could tell already.

"The truth of the matter is, I've done my research as well. And I happened to hear some rumors that you are interested in the Philosopher's Stone."

He held up a small flat red rock.

Katherine's eyes widened at the sight of it, and Carys' right hand twitched, a reflex action.

But Edward looked at it skeptically. "Uh-huh,"

"It's the product of crystallized red water," the man explained. "A prototype for the prize you're after."

"So what do I do with that?"

"Together we can save Xenotime," said Mugear. "Once we revitalize the gold mine, this town can get back on their feet again!"

"Sounds like a good cause," Ed replied. "So. Where are the fakes?"

"Taken care of," he said. "They're in the cellar."

With a nod from Al and Katherine, Ed clapped his hands once and tapped the stone with his finger. It dissolved at once at his touch, much to Mugear's dismay.

"What did you do _that_ for?!"

"We'll talk about the unfinished work later. For now, we execute the prisoners." Ed grinned.

Carys nodded, agreeing.

"State Alchemists are not so forgiving of liars."

"Oh! So you're accepting my request for assistance!"

"I told you, let's take care of those pathetic kids first. It's been a good while since I've killed anyone." Edward's face got more and more villain-like as he spoke. "I kinda miss it."

His eye slid back to Mugear in a swift, deadly movement.

" _You want to watch_?"

"Ah! No, thanks," Mugear decided nervously. "I'll let you take care of it."

"Good, because there's going to be a _lot_ of blood!" Carys chirped cheerfully, yet sadistically back over her shoulder as they walked on out.

Mugear looked faint.

Katherine sighed. Her brother and Carys really had a rather brutal, ruthless side to them.

They walked down to the cellar, and opened the heavy metal door, revealing Fletcher and his older brother, hands bound.

"Hi!" Al greeted them.

"Al?" said Fletcher uncertainly. "What are you doing here?"

Ed opened his mouth to speak, but Carys beat him to it, with much enthusiasm.

" _Well_...we're here to _kill_ you! Ain't it obvious?"

She was quickly silenced by a smack from Katherine's automail arm.

"Ow!"

"Don't be stupid, we're _not_ actually here to do that!"

"I _know_ that. I was just joking!"

"I know that your father was actually Nash Tringham," said Edward, ignoring them.

Fletcher and his brother gasped.

"But what I don't know is why you two would so foolishly continue with his work!"

The older of the two gritted his teeth briefly, but then relaxed.

"It was his dream. And as his son it was my duty to see it through."

"So you honestly think this is what he wanted?" Ed demanded.

"You do realize the suffering that toxic water is causing the people of this town, don't you? Your father realized it, and that's why he chose to abandon his research. And I can tell you right now you're not going to find happiness, by chasing your father's failed dream."

"Ed…" said Katherine.

Carys had said nothing throughout this entire exchange. She felt like she was going to be sick.

 _They're...what might have happened to_ me...

Edward stepped forwards, and removed the two brothers' restraints.

"Live your own life, and stop with all the acting. Trying to be someone you're clearly not. C'mon, guys!" he turned, and ran out of the room, the rest of them following suit, leaving the brothers there.

"There's one more thing I've been wondering." said Edward, now facing Mugear. They had made their way upstairs again, only to catch Mugear muttering "That's nothing compared to what those boys could make for me."

"Whatever happened to Nash Tringham? His research on red water is how I know so much about it, and the last I heard, he was working for you."

"Just in case we have any questions to ask him," Katherine added.

"His research wasn't making progress anymore, so I had to let him go."

"You don't strike me as the type of guy who'd let someone who knew all his secrets get away clean." Edward countered.

"I'm afraid I miss the implication." Mugear responded evenly.

"I'm saying, I don't answer to murderers, Mugear. _You got that_?"

Mugear's expression turned to shock. His eyes flicked warily from Edward's face to the exit, like he was deciding whether to run or talk his way out of this. Eventually he decided on neither, pulling out a strange circular hand-held device from behind him.

Carys felt her stomach sink. _This can't be good._

"In that case, you're not getting out of here alive!"

 _Yep. Dying is definitely not good._

He held another red flat stone, exactly like the one he had presented them with earlier.

"He's got more than one of those things?" Ed looked shocked.

"Mugear, stop this now!" Carys commanded, raising her right fist.

Katherine blocked her with a hand. "Wait! We don't know what that device is yet!"

Mugear chuckled. "It may not be as potent as that other one…" he dropped the stone into the open top of the machine. It engulfed it in a brilliant scarlet light.

"...But it'll do!"

He shot at them with a machine, blasting a hole in the wall.

They barely managed to avoid the blast, Edward shoving Alphonse hurriedly aside, and Katherine knocking Carys out of the way.

"Is that all you've got?" Ed demanded, rolling to his feet.

Mugear began to laugh. He opened his free hand to reveal a whole pile of what appeared to be a crushed red powder.

A powdered version of the red water.

"Bad question." Ed cringed.

"No kidding!" Katherine remarked.

Mugear, still laughing away, began to pour the red powder down into the machine.

The device glowed to an even brighter color than before, and grew several large gun pipes.

"Oh, _crap_!"

They all ran to avoid the now even more dangerous blasts.

They sprinted along the passageway. "How the hell is he using alchemy? I thought he wasn't an alchemist!" Katherine asked wildly, ducking underneath a bullet.

"It's that stupid machine he's got!" Edward told her, diving out of the way of another shot, but smashing straight into her and Carys and sending all of them crashing to the floor. Mugear fired another blast at them, but Al blocked it. Unfortunately, while he was unhurt, the impact knocked him off balance and onto the rest of them.

Mugear aimed the device at them. "Ha, look at you kids. Pathetic."

"Not so fast, Mugear!"

Russell came running out of nowhere, and slammed his hands into the grounds, where his transmutation circle had gone unnoticed by the scientist. Vines appeared around him, immobilizing him.

He turned back to Edward. "Sorry for the interruption, but you guys looked like you needed the help."

Edward jumped to his feet. "Nah, we were doing fine."

"Right, Brother. You _totally_ didn't almost get all of us killed."

"Shut _up_ , Katherine! It was accident, and you got in my way."

She sighed, and pulled herself up from the floor. This wasn't the right time to start bickering.

"We're done chasing our father's legacy. What was it you said? Time to start living our own lives." He smiled.

The moment was cut short by Fletcher, who had appeared behind his brother. "Russell!"

He pointed at where Mugear had been pinned against the wall by vines. But Mugear was gone. There was a staircase in his place, descending underneath the mansion.

"A secret passage?" Katherine cursed under her breath.

"Language, Blue." Carys remarked, sounding jokingly scandalized.

 _How on earth is she making jokes right now?_ "I think that the situation justifies it!" She shot back.

"Time for a chase!" Edward ran towards the staircase.

"Wait!" Russell stopped them. "The red water's down that way. You'll need these." He held out a mask to Edward, Katherine, and Carys in turn. Then, they ran down the dark passageway, in pursuit of the scientist.

They ran along what looked like and old mining tunnel.

"How much farther?" Ed asked, breathing hard.

"We're close. The stream with the red water is just up ahead." Russell told them.

But Katherine, who was in the lead, suddenly skidded to a halt. Blocking their path was a huge stone slab across the tunnel.

"He sealed the entrance shut!"

"Well it looks like he forgot who he was dealing with." Ed smirked and clapped his hands together before placing them in the wall, creating an opening.

However, Mugear actually knew _exactly_ who he was dealing with. Edward deconstructed the wall, only to find Mugear with a giant cannon waiting to fire on the other side. The group all stepped back against the walls to shelter themselves from the blast, just barely getting out of the way in time.

"I will never give up the spring! As long as I have it,nothing can stop me! Especially not to some diminutive kid alchemist who thinks he can order me around!" Mugear's voice had a desperate, crazed edge to it. _He's completely lost it._ Katherine realized. _His own desire for power has driven him insane._

It was then that she noticed that Edward had moved away from the wall and stood in front of Mugear.

"Edward…" Carys warned him.

"Brother!" _What is he trying to accomplish here? Get himself shot across the cave by that cannon?_

"Diminutive state alchemist, huh?" He smiled. "Points for the big word, but you're going down." He clapped, just as Mugear fired his cannon. The old man was fast, but Edward was faster, resealing the wall just as the blow struck. There was a flash, and the barrier crumbled to show Mugear lying on the ground, groaning, having been hit by the rebound of his own cannon. Katherine watched nervously as Edward approached him, hoping her brother wouldn't go too far with the deranged old man.

"You see?" Ed taunted. "Even with your precious red water, you're no match for the real thing. I'm on a whole other level." He bragged.

But his gloating was cut short as the cave began to shake. The ceiling started to give way.

"Ed, that's enough, let's go!" Carys called, and thankfully Edward actually _listened_ for once, joining them as they ran from the crumbling chamber.

"Wait!" Carys turned to see Katherine pulling at Mugear. "Come with us. You'll die if you stay here."

"Never! I won't leave the red water! It's mine! You can't make me abandon it!"

"Katherine!" _Why is she choosing_ now _to start being the stupidly heroic one?_

"We can't just leave him here. He's just a crazy old man. He-" She was cut off by the cave shaking ominously.

"We're going to die if we stay here, and he won't leave. Katherine, this is useless."

Katherine still looked torn. Then she shook her head, and let go of Mugear. "Fine." She let Carys pull her after the others, just in time for the ceiling of the cavern to completely collapse. Both girls pretended not to hear the old man's final scream.

* * *

Edward constructed a barrier behind them to block the rushing red water headed in their direction.

The group eventually made their way out into the stunning sunlight, only to look up and see the ominous streams of red water flowing down the sides of the mountain.

Ed rushed off, clapping his hands and forming another barrier, this one a huge, solid rock wall surrounding a distinct region of trees, them, and the manor.

This created an enormous makeshift dam which the cascade of red water swiftly ran into.

"Now, then." Ed turned to look up at the mountain where the red water was still running down. "We just need to find a drain."

As if suddenly getting an idea, Fletcher ran down the hill, pulling out a piece of chalk.

He quickly marked down a transmutation circle onto a pine tree, gently pressing his forehead against it as soon as he was finished.

The circle glowed a bright green, and as if on cue, all the trees around them began doing the same.

To Carys' amazement, she could see that the trees seemed as if they were soaking up the red water, gradually transitioning to a red glow.

When it vanished, the trees had been turned a bright crimson color: leaves, bark, trunks, and all.

"The trees...absorbing all the red water!" Ed said in awe.

"I've seen something like this before," Al informed them.

"That's right...they were detoxifying the red water with plants!"

Russell joined his brother, placing a hand on the circle beside him.

Together, the circle glowed even brighter, and the water began to soak up much faster, until the entire little valley was dry.

"They did it!" Katherine whispered.

"They pulled through," Ed agreed. "Well done."

Back at the tree, Fletcher and Russell smiled at each other.

"Thank you, trees." Fletcher murmured sadly. "Sorry for this."

On command, the circle now glowed blue, as did all the red trees.

In a moment, they had all vanished, dematerialized into blue sparks which all floated away in the wind.

Carys offered Katherine a grin, to which Katherine gave her a shy smile in exchange. Beside them, Ed was smiling too, and farther down the hill, Fletcher and Russell were beaming as well.

The rock barrier from earlier lowered to the ground, revealing the town beyond.

They smiled, because they all knew that the town of Xenotime was now finally, and officially safe.

* * *

The next morning, the four of them were back at the train station outside of Xenotime. This time, the Tringham brothers, as well as Elisa and her uncle, were there as well to say goodbye.

"Thank you for letting us stay with you." Katherine told Belsio.

He smiled. "It was my pleasure, girl." He nudged Elisa, who shyly lifted the basket of fruit towards her.

"For helping me, back at the mine. And for saving the town."

"Oh, you don't, I mean, thank you but-" Katherine stuttered.

"It's the least we can do. Especially considering they way you were treated here." Belsio told her, and so Katherine accepted the gift, before boarding the train after her brothers.

"Hey. Hold on." Russell came up to the window of the train. "I just wanted to let you know that we won't be looking into the red water anymore. We're going to try and fix the damage we've done here, and help Belsio on his farm. With our plant alchemy, we might be able to make the town prosper again."

Edward smiled. "See? You've found your own cause. You don't need your dad, or his research."

"About that…" Russell paused, thinking something over. "Would you like the formula to refine the red water? I know you guys are also looking for the stone, it could be of some use."

This time Katherine answered for them. "No. Thank you, but we want to do this our own way." She said decisively. _Besides, after all the damage it caused here, I never want to go near the stuff again._

Russell shrugged. "Suit yourself, sweetheart."

"Hey! You little-" But she was cut off as the train whistle blew, and the train began to move along the tracks, leaving behind a smirking Russell, with Fletcher and Elisa waving behind him.

Meanwhile, Katherine noticed that Ed was reading what looked like a letter. "What's that?"

He looked away. "Nothing…"

Katherine rolled her eyes. Carys reached over and grabbed it from him.

"Ooh, let me see that." She paused and scanned the letter. "It's from Russell…" Then, she let out a laugh.

"What is it?" Alphonse asked her.

"Russell's a year younger than Edward! But he's more than a foot taller!" Carys doubled over with laughter, as Edward protested loudly.

" _No_! You-shut _up_!"

Carys bumped him with her shoulder, still laughing, while Ed scowled and turned away in order to cover up his own beginnings of a smile.

Katherine watched them quietly from her seat, exhaustion overtaking her as the action of the past few days finally caught up with her. Watching Carys tease her brother, she couldn't help but smile. She'd grown to really like Carys over the past couple of days, and was pleased to see her and her brother getting along like old friends.

 _Maybe she can come on some other assignments._

Then she remembered how strangely Carys had acted a few nights ago, and made a mental note to ask Mustang about her when they returned to Central.

She couldn't help but feel as though there was a lot more to her than met the eye.

At that point however, she couldn't keep her eyes open any more, and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, staying that way the whole time as the train carried them back to Central.


	5. Flame Vs Fullmetal, Ozone Vs Sky (1of 2)

Katherine woke up being repeatedly prodded in the shoulder.

"Hey. Hey, wake up."

She sat up and shook her head, rubbing her eyes to clear her vision.

"Carys? What is it? Stop poking me!" She swatted the other girl's hand away.

"We're back at East City. You slept through almost the entire train ride. You must have been tired."

She shrugged at this.

"Oh, thank Amestris, you're awake." Edward said. "I thought Carys was going to drive me insane. Maybe you can make her stop."

Carys grinned. "Oh, just you wait, short stuff. I was barely even getting started."

"Hey!"

Katherine shook her head, as they gathered their belongings. Four days and she already knows exactly how to piss off my brother. She paused for a moment to readjust her hood, before departing the train.

"So what do we need to take care of in East City while we're here?" Edward asked her.

"Well, first thing's first, we need to report back to Mustang at Eastern Command."

Edward groaned. "Great. This should be fun."

"He's gonna kill me, after all the trouble you three got into while I was supposed to be keeping you out of it." Carys stopped walking and turned to face the Elrics. "And if any of you brings up the fact that you managed to knock me out and locked me in a shed, you're dead meat, got it?"

All three of the siblings nodded, both Katherine and Edward trying hard not to laugh.

"I'm sure Mustang will understand. Maybe he'll be able to tell us something about that as well." Al reasoned. "It can't be that bad…"

Katherine and Edward let slip a few chuckles into open air, both immediately regretting it when Carys' eyes flashed angrily and she clenched her right fist.

"We'll for sure not tell anyone!"

"Yeah!"

"That's more like it," Carys turned on her heel, placing her hand back in her uniform's pocket.

She waved a hand back at them without turning around.

"Try to keep that in mind!"

* * *

It was pouring rain by the time they reached Eastern Command.

Edward sighed. "Time to face Colonel Sarcasm."

Carys laughed. "Please call him that to his face. I would pay to see that."

"No, don't do that Brother. He's annoyed with us as is. Do not make it worse." Katherine said sternly.

" _Aww_ , sister, you're no fun."

"We're here, we may as well get this over with." Katherine walked towards the entrance, then paused.

"Hey, where's Al?"

"Coming!" Alphonse appeared from around the corner. Katherine frowned, but didn't comment on his odd behavior.

"Let's go then." They walked into the command center.

* * *

"Well you certainly managed to make a mess of things." The Colonel sat at his desk, smirking at the four of them.

"Let's see, we have the disappearance of the scientist Mugear, something about gold mines, and a massive headache over all of the damage the red water caused to the town. I think this was one of your most exciting missions ever." He turned to Carys. "I thought I told you to keep them out of trouble, not get them into more of it, Ozone."

She bowed her head. "...I apologize, sir."

Katherine almost choked in surprise, seeing Carys look so serious and humbled.

It was as though there was a completely different person standing in her place.

"You know, Edward, you and your sister could at least _try_ to pretend to follow your orders"

"We have problems of our own, without becoming one of your little _lackeys_." Edward shot back.

Carys scowled at his use of the insult 'lackeys'.

"Well, _this_ lackey helped save your sorry butt, so don't forget that." she muttered under her breath.

"Problems like finding the Philosopher's Stone? It's been three years and you aren't any closer to your goal. Isn't it time you stopped chasing children's stories?"

"Actually," Katherine cut in to keep her brother from completely losing it on the Colonel, "We found a lead while we were in Xenotime. There was a man who passed through, a doctor who helped a sick little girl. The people say he used a glowing red stone. His name was Dr. Marcoh. Have you heard of him?"

The Colonel paused for a moment, thinking.

"The name doesn't ring a bell, but I'll look in on it."

Katherine wasn't convinced. "You seem to know more than a little on just about everything, Colonel," She said, going for flattery. "Surely you would have heard about something like this."

He shrugged, unfazed. "I'm afraid not. But I will let you know if I do."

She frowned, but dropped the subject.

"Is that all?" Mustang asked.

"For now. I'd like to talk later though about… something that came up during our last mission." She said, trying to be as vague as possible.

He smiled, as if she has done exactly what he was expecting her to. "I'm sure I can make time to do that, Sky Alchemist. Come and see me tomorrow."

They all got up to leave. "Oh, remember, Elrics, you're going to need to complete your recertification soon in order to keep your status as State Alchemists. Anything in mind?"

"Yes…" Edward was lying, but Katherine knew better than to call him on it. Neither of them had had time to even think about recertification.

"I'm looking forward to it. Now I need to get back to work. The Colonel ushered them back out of his office and shut the door in their faces.

"That could have been worse," Carys couldn't help but feel relieved.

"'Worse'? He wouldn't give up any information on this Marcoh guy!" Ed disagreed.

"What do you mean, Brother?" Al slowed his pace. "I thought he said he'd look into it."

"Yeah, right. The only thing he'd be looking into are keeping his secrets safe. No, our Colonel here is keeping something from us."

"Yeah," Katherine muttered.

"So what's the information you're looking into, Sister?" Al asked.

"Oh, it's...something that came up on our mission, is all." Katherine tried to sound nonchalant., especially with the person whose secret she was trying to find beside her.

"Welll, on that note, I'd better get back to the office," Carys flashed a quick grin, and in a blur that raced right past them, she was gone. 

* * *

That wasn't suspicious at all, Carys thought dejectedly as she made her way down the hallway.

"Good job, Ansel." she mumbled. "You're incredible at this secret-keeping stuff."

It's not for much longer, she tried to reassure herself.

Soon she'd be back out in the world and on the search once more.

"See how big my Elisia's gotten? She's sooo cute!"

Hughes shoved a collection of photographs across the mess hall table at the Elrics. Katherine picked up one of them, showing Hughe's smiling, 3 year old daugher. She was surprised at how much she had grown, it had been a while since she'd seen the little girl. I remember seeing her the day she was born. She smiled to herself as she watched Hughes chatter animatedly about his family. She knew this irritated her twin, but she personally found it to be a bit refreshing. Hughes was fun, and kind, the dead opposite of the rest of her life.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Lieutenant, have you ever heard of an alchemist named ?" Edward asked him.

"It's Lieutenant Colonel, actually. As for Dr. Marcoh-"

"Who's asking about Dr. Marcoh?"

"Basque Grande?" Edward turned to face the Iron Blood Alchemist.

"Why are you asking about that traitor?" He demanded.

"Traitor? We heard about him on our last assignment, that's all." Alphonse explained.

"Well he's a deserter. Up and left during the Eastern Rebellion."

The siblings shared a glance. What would a military deserter be doing travelling around as a doctor in rural towns?

"Thank you sir." Alphonse said. Grande didn't respond, but nodded curtly and then turned and walked away.

Edward glowered after him. "I knew it! Mustang has to have heard of him, If he used to be military. That stupid, scheming… Just wait 'till I get my hands on-"

"Calm down Brother." Katherine held out a hand. "Why don't we check the library first, before going after Mustang. " Books might prove to be a more reliable, and cooperative source of information.

"Sister's right, Ed." Alphonse agreed.

"Fine. But still.." Edward sighed. "Let's go."

* * *

"GUESS WHO'S BACK!"

Carys beamed, flinging open the office door.

Her entrance was met with less drama than she had hoped for; the only excitement was that Lieutenant Fuery jumped a few inches at her shout, and Lieutenant Fulman took an unconscious step backward as though trying to escape.

Lieutenant Havoc looked up, almost disparagingly. "Oh, you're here." He lit a cigarette. "So how much trouble did you get in this time?"

"What a welcome," Carys said, not letting the disappointing entrance sway her. She swept out an arm. "Though the journey was long and painful, I have returned at last!"

"We can see that," Hawkeye said pointedly. "But welcome back."

"Thank you!" Carys grinned at her, and after a moment declared, "I missed all of you!"

"That's doubtful," Havoc muttered.

She waved her fist at him in irritation. "I heard that!"

"So how was Xenotime?" Fuery asked, interested.

"Being sent off to supervise the Elric trio must have been difficult!" Fulman added.

"Oh, believe me, it was." Carys groaned, dropping her dramatic act. "I think I did everything except supervise."

"Well, you are all back safe now, and that's what truly matters." stated Hawkeye.

"Yes, I know." Carys replied solemnly. "But seriously, all I want to do right now is go back to my apartment and sleep for three days."

"Don't let the Colonel hear you say that," Braeda replied. "It's bad enough that the Fuhrer wants to use Eastern as his new HQ."

"What?"

"It's true." Hawkeye nodded. "The Brigadier General came to his office earlier today to inform him about it."

* * *

"Dammit!" Ed burst out, slamming the heavy book shut. "We've been at this for more than an hour, and we've got nothing!"

Katherine sighed. He was right , this was getting old. "Maybe we can check another branch or-Alphonse, did your armour just meow?"

Al jumped, and turned away. "No..."

"Yes it-there it is again! What have you got in there?" She knocked on his helmet, which fell off, to reveal a tiny kitten curled up inside. "Brother!"

She exclaimed, exasperated.

"What? It was all alone and cold in the rain, I couldn't just leave it there!"

She sighed. "What exactly do you think we'll be able to do with a cat? We can't feed it, we don't have an actual house to keep it in-" She sneezed violently. "And I am ALLERGIC TO CATS!" She sneezed again, then turned away.

"Katherine?" Hawkeye was approaching from the front of the library. "Mustang wants to see you. He's in his office."

"Hey, I know! Recertification is coming up right?" Ed exclaimed.

"Yes, I think so, why?" Hawkeye asked.

Edward grinned wickedly. "I know exactly how I'm going to renew mine." He turned to address Hawkeye. "Pass on a message to the Colonel, will you?"

She nodded, and he continued.

"Tell him that I'm challenging him to a duel. And if I win, he has to tell me everything he knows about Dr. Marcoh. Got it?"

"What? Brother, are you sure about this?"

"Why don't we let the Colonel decide?" Hawkeye cut in. "I'll pass along your message, Edward."

Katherine nodded reluctantly, and followed Hawkeye back towards the front.

"Get rid of the cat, Alphonse." She called over her shoulder, before leaving her brothers behind in the library.

"Ha! So Fullmetal wants to fight, huh?" The Colonel had just been informed by Hawkeye of Edward's challenge. "Sounds interesting, but I don't think so. I'm not sure my superior officers would approve. Besides, I don't have time for that sort of silly children's squabble"

"On the contrary, Colonel, I think that sounds like an excellent idea." Basque Grande had been listening to their conversation in the doorway. " You need to loosen up. Besides, you and Fullmetal? That's a fight I would pay to see."

"But-"

"Are you going to refuse an order from a superior officer, Mustang?" The Brigadier-General taunted.

"No sir."

"Good. Tell the Fullmetal Alchemist that you two will duel tomorrow afternoon. I think the training grounds will make an adequate arena." Grande left, shutting the door behind him.

Mustang scowled. "I can't believe this. When I'm Fuhrer, I won't have to take orders from any of these pompous jerks."

"When you're Fuhrer? Isn't that getting a little ahead of yourself there, Colonel?" Katherine asked.

"No. I know I'll get there eventually. And you know what else I'll do? I'll change the uniforms...so that all female officers wear miniskirts!"

Both Katherine and Hawkeye scowled at this.

"The day you try to put me in a miniskirt is the day you lose a hand." Katherine told him. Hawkeye smirked at this.

He shrugged. "We'll see. Anyways, you wanted to talk."

He gestured to an empty chair in front of his desk.

"And take off that hood, Hawkeye and I have seen your face before."

She did what he asked. "It's about our mission to Xenotime."

He nodded. "Of course. And how did you find the Ozone Alchemist, may I ask?"

"She was… interesting."

"Oh?"

"Why did you send her? What was the point? I want to know what's going on here." Katherine told him.

"Didn't I tell you? I thought she was supposed to look after you three."

Katherine laughed. "You sent a sixteen year old girl to keep us out of trouble? You're smarter than that, Colonel."

"Well clearly she didn't do her job very well. Did you really lock her in a shed?"

"How did you-"

"I have my ways, Sky Alchemist." He chuckled. "And you're right, I didn't just send her with you three as your supervisor."

"Are you going to tell me why then? Does it have something to do with her sister? If I'm going to be a pawn in another one of your stupid plans, I'd at least like to know the role I'm supposed to play." She stared him down, a small teenage girl confronting a grown man.

He laughed. "You really think you have me completely figured out, don't you, Katherine. Oh, and Carys told you about her sister? That's interesting."

"She didn't tell me much. Just that she has- or had a twin sister, who's missing or… something. What do you know about it?"

"I don't know much more about it than you do. And it's not my story to tell."

"Tell me and I'll talk my brother out of this stupid little duel." She offered.

"No, I'm actually looking forward to that." He smiled. "Everything will be made clear soon enough, Katherine, I can promise you that."

"Don't condescend to me, Colonel. I'm fifteen, true, but I deserve to know what's going on here! What's she hiding?"

Mustang ignored her. "Hawkeye, will you escort the Sky Alchemist back to the library?"

"Don't bother, I can go myself." She snapped, slamming the door shut as she stormed out.

That jerk… I can understand why Brother hates him so much.

She looked around the empty hallway, trying to calm herself. She'd gone to Mustang hoping he could make things clearer, but now it was more convoluted than ever. I'll get to the bottom of this. I don't care what I have to do, I will…

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she didn't even notice the familiar pale gray scarf as it drifted back around the corner.

* * *

This is not good.

Carys fiddled with her scarf anxiously as she marched down the hall, unaware of where she was even trying to go.

The conversation she had heard outside of Mustang's office was still playing over in her head:

"Are you going to tell me why then? Does it have something to do with her sister?..."

"...Carys told you about her sister?"

"She didn't tell me much. Just that she has- or had a twin sister, who's missing or… something. What do you know about it?"

"I don't know much more about it than you do. And it's not my story to tell."

"Damn right, it's not your story to tell," Carys muttered under her breath.

Instead of going to ask the Colonel about the Fuhrer's new Headquarters declaration, she had found herself listening in surprise as Katherine asked the Colonel for information about her sister.

"Why would she be so curious?"

The conversation had ended abruptly enough, and she had found herself practically sprinting back around the corner to just barely avoid a determined-looking Katherine, striding out of the office.

Fortunately for her, she had seemed just deep enough in thought for Carys to make her escape before she was spotted.

That would have raised some interesting questions for sure.

Katherine walked quickly down the deserted corridor. She had gotten to the library only to find out that Edward and Alphonse had left. They could have at least told someone where they were going. I have enough to worry about without chasing them down all day.

Like, for example, this stupid duel with Roy Mustang. It was all anyone would talk about, she'd even had a few soldiers stop and tell her they were cheering for Edward.

Honestly, A part of Katherine hoped that he would lose. That'll teach him to get on everyone's bad side. But that was his problem. She had plenty of her own. Whatever the Colonel was planning, she didn't like the feeling she got...

"Hello!"

Katherine jumped about a foot, and looked around the seemingly empty hallway, to see Carys leaning against the wall behind her, grinning cheerfully.

"Carys? Where did you come from? What-"

"I have my ways." She chuckled.

Katherine realized she had heard the exact same phrase used by the Colonel a little while ago. Then she remembered what they had been discussing and felt a little anxious, seeing as she was now trying to talk to their topic of conversation.

As if reading her mind, Carys asked, "So, how'd your meeting with Mustang go?"

"Oh.. fine, I guess. But you know how you can be."

Carys laughed. "That I do. I'm impressed that you can carry on a conversation with him for so long without slapping him."

Katherine raised her eyebrows. "Please tell me you haven't actually done that. Besides, he's not too bad once you know how he works. Usually he's willing to make a deal, or something. As long as you keep in mind the fact that he's always got some kind of ulterior motive, he's pretty easy to deal with."

"Usually, but not today, huh? You don't look like you've got what you came for." She paused. "What did you come for, anyways?"

"I… I just wanted to ask him a few questions." Katherine scowled. "But he wouldn't give me any answers."

"Well maybe you should just forget about it, then."

"I can't do that. Something's going on here, and I want to know what."

"Is that necessary?" Carys' voice turned cold, stiff-sounding even.

"What-"

"You don't have the right to know everything, you know."

"I...Carys?" Does she know what we were talking about?

"Some of us have secrets, too. We're allowed to not have you sticking your nose into our personal lives." Carys' eyes narrowed.

She heard me, then. "Right. And what do you call going around, listening to other people's private discussions, then?"

"I was just coming to talk to the Colonel about Eastern becoming the new Central Command. But when I was about to go into his office to talk, I heard you, demanding he tell you about my sister!"

"I didn't…That's not what happened!" Katherine protested.

"Sure." Carys crossed her arms. " I heard about your brother's duel with Mustang. Why don't we have one of our own, to settle this."

"No! I'm not fighting you! This is ridiculous!"

"What? Are you scared?" Carys taunted.

"No, but if you would just let me explain-"

"I don't want an explanation! Honestly, if you really want to know so bad, why don't we have it out on the battlefield?"

"I am NOT afraid to fight you, I just don't want to, because this is childish! I didn't-"

"Please. You're too afraid to even show your face to anyone, and you say you're not a coward."

"What did you say?"

"Hiding under that hood, flinching away if anyone even looks at you. You think you're so hard done by-"

That remark crossed the line, evaporating Katherine's control.

"How DARE you!" She raised her arm to punch Carys.

"STOP!" Hawkeye came out of nowhere, putting herself in Katherine's path, and firing her pistol at the ceiling.

"Katherine, what on earth are you doing? Carys, what did you say to her?"

Katherine stepped back, dropping her arm back to her side as her self control returned. Carys' eyes were still wide, as though she hadn't actually expected Katherine to try to strike her.

She looked away, her face showing her extreme guilt. Neither of them answered the Lieutenant's questions.

"Well, if you're so ready to fight, why don't you save it for the dueling ground?" She said, cautiously lowering her gun.

"I'll see you there, then. Tomorrow afternoon." Katherine said, before turning on her heel and walking away, leaving Carys and a somewhat bewildered Hawkeye behind her.

* * *

"Carys Ansel."

Carys flinched at the harshness in the Lieutenant's normally calm voice.

She looked at the ground, feeling like an even more terrible person than she usually did.

Which was pretty often, to be honest.

"Those were words you can't easily take back. You are aware of this, right?"

"Yes, ma'am." Carys whispered.

"You know perfectly well why Katherine chooses to wear that hood. You had absolutely no right to tell her otherwise, understand?"

Carys snapped back up, protesting "...But she was trying to find out about my-!"

"I know." Hawkeye stated. "Believe me, I do." Her voice softened, yet she still continued on firmly. "But regardless, that is no reason to talk to someone like that. She has gone through so much and still has such a long way to go."

Carys bit back her words.

And I haven't gone through Hell as well?!

"Yes, Lieutenant." she replied at last.

"Good." Hawkeye sighed. "Now, I won't be able to stop this little duel of yours, but I do suggest you be careful. You owe her at least that much."

"...Yes, ma'am."

With a nod, the woman turned and walked back down the hall, leaving Carys to ponder over her own wretched thoughts.

I really am a terrible person, thought Carys. Why did I say such awful things?

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Is it because I'm running out of time?

But still, sister…..I just-I can't-I can't find a way to forget about you!

But it made no difference. Katherine likely hated her now, and Carys couldn't blame her for that.

As far as she was concerned, she would be certainly facing little to no mercy on the battlefield the next morning. 

And she knew full well how much she deserved it.


	6. Flame Vs Fullmetal, Ozone Vs Sky (2of 2)

"Edward! Alphonse!" Katherine rushed into the room they were staying in, in a state of complete panic. It had been a long walk back to the hotel, just enough time to cool off and realize what had just happened.

"What is it, Sister? What's wrong?" Alphonse asked, concerned.

"I can't believe what I just did. How could I be so stupid?"

"What did you do? Did something happen with the Colonel?"

"No-well, yes, but that's not the point! I just challenged Carys Ansel to a duel!"

"You what?!" Edward exclaimed, looking like he was trying not to laugh.

"Well she challenged me, because I talked to Mustang about her sister, and she wanted to fight, and I said no, and she got mad and then I got mad. And then I tried to punch her and Hawkeye-" She was rambling.

"Woah, slow down, Katherine!" Edward told her. "Sister? What sister? You punched her?"

"I said almost. Until Hawkeye stepped in. I just got so mad!" She clenched her fists.

Edward laughed. "I gathered. But can you go back to the beginning? What happened with Mustang? And since when does Carys have a sister?"

"She told me a few nights ago, when we were sharing a room in Xenotime. She said she had a twin sister. But something happened to her, she wouldn't say what. That's part of what I wanted to talk to Mustang about. He wouldn't tell me anything, but I think he's got some big plan that has to do with Carys coming with us to Xenotime. Her sister might be involved too."

Edward nodded, looking a little confused as to how she'd reached this conclusion, but gestured for her to keep going. "Get to the part where you punched her."

"I said almost! Anyways, Carys apparently overheard me talking to Mustang, and got mad. She thought I was prying." She huffed, irritated. "She had heard about your duel with Mustang, and decided that we should have one of our own, to settle it." Katherine rolled her eyes. "Of course I said no."

"And then tried to clock her?"

"I'm getting to that part, Edward." She snapped.

"So I said I wouldn't fight her. She said I was too scared to fight. And then- then…" She trailed off, still too angry and hurt to keep her voice steady."She said…"

"Yes?"

"It doesn't matter." She stopped.

"Well whatever it was, it clearly has you pretty upset. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"It's really not important. I just lost control. Lieutenant Hawkeye stepped in, and I didn't actually hit her, but I agreed to her duel, and we're fighting tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay, wow. I've never seen you lose your cool like that. That's usually my job!" Edward joked.

"This isn't funny! I should never have agreed to this! I'm just going to have to tell her I changed my mind."

"Hey wait! Don't do that." Edward told her.

"What else am I supposed to do?"

"Fight her? It's okay to get angry every once in awhile, sister. And whatever Carys said to you, maybe she had it coming. Give her hell tomorrow." Edward told her.

"Brother's right. Don't hide your anger." Alphonse agreed.

"But, I don't do stuff like this."

"Maybe it's time you stopped overthinking everything."

She sighed. "Fine." She smiled a little. "You know, this could be kind of fun."

Edward grinned. "That's the spirit. Now get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

* * *

There was an unsurprisingly large crowd the following afternoon. One of the higher-ups- Katherine wasn't really sure which one, had decided it was better to have both of the fights at the same time in the same space on the training grounds. So she and Carys were one side, Edward and Mustang were on the other, kept separate by a large stone wall.

Katherine hoped that Carys, who was waiting silently beside her, couldn't see how nervous she was. She was still furious about the day before, but she also wasn't particularly confident about the fight, either. It would add insult to injury to lose, she could not let that happen.

She watched as Lt. Col. Hughes stepped up to the podium, as he was serving as their announcer. He started to talk, but what her was saying, Katherine didn't really care.

"Hey, listen…" Carys began.

"What? Surprised I showed up? Because all these people might see me?" She asked, coldly.

"No… forget it."

"I will."

Both girls stood in silence for a moment. They heard the audience groan, as Hughes began to ramble on about his daughter, as per usual.

"I just wanted to say-" Carys began again, but Katherine cut her off.

"I don't care. Let's just get this over with. Save the speeches for after I crush you into the dirt." She hissed, taken aback by her own anger.

Carys stepped back.

"Alright, then." To Katherine's surprise, she had a sad, twisted smile on her face.

Hughes had gotten back on track.

"Alchemists, take your places!" He called, and they did, Katherine and Ed on their side of the arena, Carys and Mustang on the other, facing off against their respective opponents.

"On my count, the duel will begin." He backed away, so as not to get caught in the crossfire.

"Three!" Katherine took a deep breath, calming herself. She checked her hood to see if it was secure.

"Two!" She lowered herself into a fighting stance, ready to lunge. Across the grounds, Carys did the same.

"One!" Carys raised her right hand, bearing the ring, as Mustang pulled a gloved hand out of his pocket. Both Katherine and Edward placed their hands together, as if praying.

"Go!"

With that, the duels begun.

Carys made the first move, her ring glowing and firing a jet of high pressure water at Katherine. She dodged easily, and ran at Carys, her eyes flashing. She clapped, and Carys felt herself thrown backwards, tossed off her feet by an unseen source. She landed and rolled to her feet, bracing herself for the next attack.

"She's not bad," she muttered to herself. "But I can't let that intimidate me!"

Katherine scowled at her from across the field. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was time for pep-talks! Let me know when you're finished, OK?"

Carys grimaced, bent her knees from under her, and pushed out, launching herself like a cannon at Katherine.

She raised her right hand, using the ring to harden the air around her like a shield.

She struck Katherine a glancing blow in the arm, which sent her flipping backwards. Katherine gritted her teeth in pain from the hit, and leaned back, aiming her own blow at Carys' midsection.

Carys dodged quickly, aiming a spinning kick. It landed on Katherine's metal arm. She shrugged it off, and retaliated, hitting her in the face with her automail.

The strike landed hard, leading Carys to gasp out briefly, backflipping far out of range.

"Still think I'm the coward?!" Katherine shouted across the field.

Carys didn't reply, merely straightened up, and to Katherine's fury and shock, smiled.

"What exactly do you find so amusing, Ozone?" She clapped, and Carys found herself encased in a whirlwind, throwing her off balance.

Katherine kicked out, the force of her attack strengthened by the wind. It hit Carys hard in the side, and she stumbled back, the wind knocked out of her. _She really knows how to fight, and I'm a little out of practice. I need to step it up._

She fell to her knees, and Katherine came running at her. But this time Carys was prepared. She swung out her leg, sweeping Katherine's feet out from under her. She slammed into the ground and lay there, stunned. Carys jumped at her.

Katherine's eyes went wide, she flinched as Carys aimed a hit at her face. But then her scared expression brought Hawkeyes words echoing through Carys' mind. _Be careful. You owe her that much._ She hesitated.

Katherine seized the split second opportunity,rolling out of the way and to her feet and lashing out with an elbow, Carys just barely getting out of the way in time.

"What the hell was that? First you call me a coward, now you're _scared_ to hit me?" She kicked out, Carys once again jumping just out of the way.

"Come on! Fight _back_!" She clapped and blasted Carys backwards off her feet again. "I'm not some delicate flower! I can take it!" She yelled, lunging at Carys, who turned her head to the side just enough to avoid getting hit.

Katherine head-butted her in the chest, causing Carys to wheeze.

She struck her hard in the left knee before aiming at her shoulder.

Carys quickly shoved her way backwards and got up. But she just couldn't bring herself to attack her opponent.

She got shakily to her feet. Her adrenaline was pumping through her veins like mad, but her head was feeling a bit sore from the numerous hits she had already taken.

Katherine glared across at her.

"Come at me!" she ordered. "Start fighting me seriously!"

Carys' heart pounded in her chest.

 _Sister…I can't..._

She looked at Katherine emotionlessly, and shook her head.

Katherine stood there, fuming. "Come _ON_!"

She launched herself at Carys, who raised a hand to block the hit. It caught Katherine on the eye, making her head snap back. Carys looked worried and hurriedly stepped back, but Katherine recovered quickly.

"That was _pathetic_."

Maybe it was because of the darkness of her hood, or the fact that her vision was slightly blurry from the impact of Carys' block.

But Katherine misjudged the distance of her next hit. The result was both she and Carys slammed into the wall with incredible force.

Katherine hit her forehead, light exploding in her vision. She dropped to one knee, shaking her head to clear it. She tensed, ready for Carys to retaliate.

But nothing happened. Katherine looked up, and then swore.

Carys was slumped against the wall. Her forehead was bleeding, and her eyes were closed.

"Carys? _Crap_." She swore again. She hadn't meant to hit her so hard.

"Carys? Carys! This isn't funny. _Wake up_!"

* * *

"Why are you so _weird_?" the boy, Finn, taunted.

"You just messed up our game again!" another boy complained.

"Yeah, I bet that's why she wears dark colors all the time! She's so gloomy, and looks like she never has any fun." a little girl concluded.

"Weirdo!"

" _Freak_!"

"...Please, _stop_." the little girl pleaded softly, clutching the folds of her navy dress with her hands.

"Oh, yeah? And who's gonna make us?" Finn smirked, shoving his face close to hers.

" _I_ will!"

A small girl, who appeared to be identical to the first announced determinedly.

Beside her, a boy about the same age glared at the other children, causing most of them to back off.

"Oh, it's just Carys and Toby." Finn rolled his eyes, but still looked more uneasy than before.

"That's right." Carys crossed her arms, and marched on over to the bully.

Even though she was at least two heads shorter, she still radiated an air of control.

Carys looked up into his face, and smiled.

"Now, what were you saying to my sister?"

Finn scoffed, in an attempt to hide his uncertainty. "We were just saying that-"

"Who's 'we'?" Carys interrupted. "Looks like you're the only one here."

The boy turned in surprise at this statement. It was true.

His other friends had suddenly all run off somewhere, leaving him alone with Toby, Carys and her sister.

"Where'd they go?" he demanded.

"Let's just say that Toby ' _advised_ ' them to go home," Carys smirked.

"That's right," Toby confirmed. "They were only too happy to listen for once."

"So?" Finn was gradually losing his cool. Without the support of his friends there, he looked nearly as vulnerable as her sister had moments before.

"So," Toby said. " _Don't_ pick on my friends."

"Exactly," Carys agreed. " _And_ -" she got right up into his face, eyes narrowed in sudden, vindictive anger.

"If you or any of your friends ever, _ever_ call my sister a weirdo, freak, or make her sad in any way on purpose, I will-" here she smiled again, the furious light still dancing in her eyes.

Finn took a quick step backwards.

She cracked her knuckles.

"...I will make sure you _regret it_."

Toby stood beside her, and the two of them radiated a fury that poor Finn could barely withstand.

With a yelp, he turned on his heel and scurried away.

Carys walked over to her sister, who was now sitting, her head bent into her knees.

"Hey," she said gently. "Are you OK?"

She looked up slowly, still timid. She nodded. "Thanks, Sis."

"They don't know _anything_." Carys continued. "You shouldn't listen to them."

"They think I look weird because of how I dress." She ducked her head to look at the ground.

"They're idiots." Toby replied. "No matter what you look like, you'll always be you. And that's what's important."

"Those bullies aren't going to be mean to you again," Carys declared fiercely. "Not as long as Toby and I are around."

Toby nodded solemnly.

She looked up in wonder at her sister. Carys grinned at her, and the corners of the other girl's mouth turned up into a carefree smile.

" _Yeah_!" she cheered softly.

* * *

"Has she woken up yet?" Katherine looked up to see Lieutenant Hawkeye standing above her. She was in the waiting room at the military hospital.

"No. They said it might be a few hours or longer." She replied, avoiding eye contact. "I figured I'd wait here."

"You should get your eye looked at. It's still bleeding."

"Oh." Katherine touched the right side of her forehead. She hadn't even realized that there was a cut there, but sure enough, it was sticky with blood.

"I guess I smashed into that wall pretty hard."

Saying this, she felt a pang of guilt. I'm way better off than Carys.

She was furious with herself. How could she have let herself get so idiotically carried away like that? She was supposed to be the level-headed one, the one that thought everything through. Carys had said something cruel, but-

Looking down at her former opponent, she felt terrible.

Carys' eyes were closed, and her head was bandaged up. Her mouth was slightly open, as though she was having trouble sleeping.

"You know, I was the one that told her to be careful in your little fight." Hawkeye sat down beside her.

"You what? Why?" Katherine asked. "I don't need-"

"I know Katherine, believe me. But I didn't want you getting hurt." She paused. "Actually, I didn't want either of you getting hurt, but-"

"I'm sorry! I just, she wasn't fighting back, and after what she said to me, it felt like…" she trailed off. "Like I wasn't even worth it, or even worse, like she pitied me. As if I was a pathetic child." Her hands clenched into fists.

"She feels awful about what she said. You should have seen her after you left the other day."

"But-"

"Katherine!"

Edward burst into the waiting room, closely followed by Alphonse.

"What happened? I came to look for you after my fight, and someone said you were at the hospital. Are you alright? You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine, Edward. It's just a scratch."

"Then why-"

"Carys is the one being treated. I just figured I should wait for her to wake up, seeing as I'm the one who… well…" She looked away.

"Holy Amestris. I know I told you to give her hell, but this wasn't exactly what I meant."

"I know! It was an accident! I hit her too hard, and she got knocked out." She tried to explain.

"Will Carys be okay?" Alphonse asked, concerned.

"I think so. I hope so." She was trying to reassure herself more than anything. The doctor said it was probably just a mild concussion. ..plus a dislocated shoulder and possibly some bruised ribs." She mumbled. "How did your fight go?" She added, trying to change the subject.

"That's a little bit complicated. But the Fuhrer called a draw to keep us from causing any more damage to the training grounds."

Hawkeye laughed at this. "I had a feeling that might happen. You and Mustang make an unbelievably destructive combination."

She stood up. "Katherine, let's go get someone to take a look at your eye. It might need stitches, especially if you don't want it to leave a scar."

Katherine suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Yes. Scarring would certainly be a huge concern of mine. She stood up, but was hesitant to leave.

"I'll make sure someone will let you know when she's awake." The lieutenant reassured her. "Now come on."

Katherine did as she was told, and let Hawkeye lead her out into the hall.

* * *

Carys coughed. She didn't feel so good-her throat felt scratchy, and her head felt as heavy as a boulder.

Slowly but surely, her vision cleared up enough so that she could see that she was in a brightly lit room with white walls.

 _A hospital?_

She was lying in a soft bed, and it felt as though she had bandages covering her body from her forehead, to her right shoulder and down to her solar plexus.

At first she was confused, having no recollection of getting herself anywhere before the battle...the battle...smashing heavily into a solid brick wall head-first-

She groaned quietly. She had passed out again?!

"Nice one, Ansel." she congratulated herself on the brilliant failure.

"Hey, you're awake!" She looked up to see Edward sticking his head through the door. "Good to know our sister didn't actually kill you."

"Shut up, Edward." Katherine walked in, a bandage above her right eye. "Hi, Carys." She said a little nervously. The tension between the two girls was palpable.

"How are you?" Alphonse followed close behind his older siblings.

"I'm fine." She tried to sit up, which made her head start to spin. "Ow… OK, maybe not fine. How long have I been here?"

"A few hours, I think? You've got three bruised ribs, a dislocated right arm, and a concussion, so maybe don't try to move." Edward informed her.

"Wow. You really know how to hit where it hurts, don't you, Blue?" She joked, trying to lighten the mood a little. Katherine didn't reply, just fidgeted with the edge of her hood.

Is she still mad? Carys wondered. Then, of course she is. I would be. And somehow I don't think throwing that fight helped my case at all.

There was an awkward pause. "Well, we should probably go." Alphonse said. " I left the kitten back in our room, and-"

"Alphonse, I thought I told you to get rid of that stupid animal!" Katherine snapped.

"I know, but it was so tiny and cute. I couldn't just send it away"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "You can be so silly sometimes, Alphonse. Nice to see that you're feeling alright Carys, we should go." Edward and Alphonse left the room, Katherine right on their heels.

"Katherine, wait." Carys called. "I tried to say this earlier, but you wouldn't let me. I'm sorry about what I called you."

Katherine stopped.

"I mean it," she continued. "I know you were only curious and felt that the Colonel was keeping too many things from you. I understand. It's just that...my sister-" she broke off, clutching the bed sheets tightly with her hands.

"She's...not something I can talk about to just anyone. There's something a lot deeper there than what I mentioned to you earlier, and to be honest, I'm just not ready to talk to or let anyone know about it just yet."

"You don't owe me an explanation, Carys. I understand keeping secrets. I guess I just forget sometimes that, well, not everyone wears the evidence of theirs on their faces." She gestured to her left side. "As for what you said, it was...unkind. But I think that your current state is proof enough that everyone does stupid things when they're angry. Trust me, I know. I think we can call it even on that front."

She paused. "One more thing. I know Hawkeye told you to be careful, but why didn't you fight back? It's not like you need to worry about me getting hurt."

Carys groaned. "Aw, she told you? Well, let's just say...I had a trip down memory lane."

"Seriously. Explain it to me."

"Huh. If you insist." she took a deep breath. "My sister was like you once. She had difficulty with being a bit...different from the other kids. Not that they were good judges of character to begin with." she made a face, and Katherine laughed.

"I swore I'd never judge based on appearances, and look where it's got me now. I broke that one promise already. Remembering that made me lose whatever feelings I had when I decided to challenge you to the stupid duel in the first place. And that's why I wouldn't fight back."

"Oh. I see." She smiled a little. "But you know what? When you met me, when you saw what I looked like for the first time, You were one of the only ones who didn't look at me like I was a freak or a monster. I don't know you all that well, I think you've done a pretty good job keeping that promise."

"Um, Katherine?" Edward came to stand in the open door. " I hate to interrupt your little girl-bonding session, but are you coming?"

Katherine rolled her eyes, then went to leave. "Goodnight, Carys."

"Goodnight, Miss Blue."

"Hey, quit calling me that. It doesn't even make sense!"

"Well, you wear blue all the time. And you're the Sky Alchemist. Is the sky not blue?"

Katherine sighed. "Okay, then. Goodnight." She left, firmly shutting the door behind her.

Carys smiled. She's an intriguing girl. Too curious for her own good, but still… She laughed. One week with the Elrics, and it had probably been one of the most interesting weeks of her life.

* * *

The Elrics walked back to their hotel in silence.

"Hey, Ed?" Katherine asked.

"Yeah?"

"When Hawkeye asked you about your fight, you told her it was complicated. What did you mean?"

"Oh. Right. I was gonna tell you, but I guess it kind of slipped my mind. You know, with the whole you putting Carys in the hospital thing."

"Hey! That was an accident. I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, yeah. Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"Well you're coming pretty close as is. Are you going to tell me about your fight or not?"

"Okay, okay. To be honest, I almost lost." He admitted. "Mustang had me cornered, all he had to do was snap his fingers. But he didn't. He hesitated, so I pointed my sword at his throat. That was when the Fuhrer stopped us."

"That's strange. Why? I can't exactly see Mustang being particularly merciful. Especially with you."

"Yeah. I asked him. But he said you would probably be a little annoyed if he told me his secrets without you there. So I went to find you, and Fuery said you were up at the hospital, and here we are."

They reached their room. Al had gone on ahead, and was waiting for them inside.

"We should go see him tomorrow. Maybe now he might tell us about Dr. Marcoh. You were winning when they called the fight, from the sound of it, and that was your deal, right?"

"It was. We'll see."

Katherine sat down on her bed. But she jumped back up again when what she had thought was a pillow stood up and yowled.

"What the- _Alphonse_!"

Al looked at her guiltily. "I know. I'm sorry. Can she just stay with us until tonight? It's just so dark outside."

Katherine glared at the cat, who stared up at her with wide eyes. After a minute or so, she sighed, relenting.

 _It is kind of cute…_

"Just don't get fur everywhere, okay?" She picked up the cat and handed it to her younger brother, sneezing.

"Thank you, Sister!" Al replied happily.

"You're lucky I'm feeling nice. Now I need to go to bed." She lay down, and turned off the lamp next to her.

"You must be tired, after spending all day beating people up." Edward teased.

"Oh, let it go, Edward!"

"Goodnight, Katherine."

"Goodnight."

* * *

"You made a deal to tell 'em about Dr. Marcoh if I won the fight. Are you going to make good on that?"

The Elrics were all crowded into Mustang's office, hoping to get the information they had been after.

"You didn't exactly win though, did you? My recollection was that the Fuhrer called it a draw."

"Yeah, while I had my sword at your throat." Edward retorted.

Mustang sighed. "Yes, but don't forget before that you were seconds away from defeat."

"It was your own choice to hesitate like that. And you never told me why either."

"Ah, yes. I suppose I said I would." He turned to Katherine. "And I heard you did quite well in your own duel. How is Carys doing?"

"Fine." Katherine muttered. I really wish people would stop asking about that."Are you going to answer the question or not?"

"Yes. I am. Have you heard of the Eastern Rebellion?"

"Of course. When the people of Ishval clashed with the military forces, right? What does that have to do with anything?"

"I was part of those military forces. I saw some pretty horrible things." He trailed off, lost in some memory.

"And?" Ed prompted him.

"Wait, Basque Grande said Marcoh was a deserter, that he left during that rebellion, right? You did know him." Katherine said.

"Yes. I did. He was probably the smartest out of all of us, getting out of there while he still could." He stopped. "You know what, he could probably explain it to you better than anyone. You should pay him a visit."

"So he's still alive? You know where he is? And what does this have to do with-"

"It will all make sense eventually, Katherine."

"Why not now? Why all the secrets?"

"Because you have to take it one step at a time. You'll find Marcoh at this address." He handed her a slip of paper. "Just talk to him. See what he has to say. You said he might have some insights into the Philosopher's Stone, right?"

"Yes." Katherine said, grudgingly, knowing that was all the Colonel was going to offer for now. "Thank you, Colonel."

The Elrics left the office.

"You know, he never did explain why he hesitated, did he?" Al pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. We have a lead now, we can worry about little stuff like that later." Katherine told him.

"He didn't give us much." Edward said.

Katherine glanced at the paper in her hand. "No, but it's a start. Like Mustang said, we have to take this one step at a time."

* * *

"So this is it for now, then."

"Yeah. We're leaving East City this evening." Katherine told Carys. She and her brothers had come to say goodbye before they left.

"You've barely been here three days. It's non-stop with you guys, isn't it." Carys laughed.

"We don't really have a choice." Edward replied. "We've got to get our bodies back, and the sooner and the better. It might be hard to understand, but we need to keep moving."

Carys nodded. She actually understood completely. Of course, she couldn't say that. Not out loud, anyways.

"Well, I'll miss you guys. You've certainly shaken things up around here."

"We'll miss you too. It was a pleasure to work with you." Katherine told her. "If you don't mind my asking, what will you be doing after this? Are you going back to Central, or do you have other plans?"

"Well, I can't exactly leave for the next few weeks." Carys gestured to her right arm, in its sling.

"Right. Sorry about that…" Katherine said sheepishly.

"After that, I'm not sure. I want to get back to my apartment at the very least. And I'll most likely be taking more orders from the Colonel." She made a face at the last part.

"Just try to avoid slapping him, okay?"

Carys sighed. "If you insist."

Katherine pulled out her pocket watch. "We'd better go. Our train leaves soon."

"Wait. Carys…" Alphonse began hesitantly. "Would you take her?" He pulled out a cat from behind his back. "I found her a few days ago in the rain. We can't take her, since we don't have an actual home. But you have an apartment, so…"

"Sure. She's cute! I love cats." Carys agreed happily. "I'll get Hawkeye or someone to look after her, while I'm in the hospital."

Alphonse looked relieved. "Thank you!" Katherine just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, let me know if you're in the city again, okay?" Carys said.

Katherine smiled. "Sure thing. We're going to be nearby for now, maybe we'll come back to East City after we follow this lead. Goodbye, Carys."

"Have a safe trip, you guys." Carys grinned, giving them a thumb's up with her good arm. "I hope you find what you're looking for. Good luck!"

And thus they parted ways.


	7. Destruction's Right Hand (1 of 2)

_**Hello, dear readers! Just a couple things to note: This episode is once again split into two chapters as it is very long already, and the name "Feline"**_

 _ **is pronounced like Feh-LEEN, not Fee-LINE. Remember, it is a name, NOT an animalistic term when it is used in this chapter.**_

 _ **Thanks so much for reading!**_

 _ **-GirlWonder29**_

* * *

The crime scene was grim.

No doubt about it. Shreds of what used to be clothing, and a large pool of what was now dried, congealed blood in the street.

The body of the victim was covered with a simple white sheet, as an apparent sign of respect for the deceased.

How much actual respect had gone into this action, Carys didn't know. However, she was admittedly grateful. Although bodies didn't exactly make her squeamish, she did prefer not to be right up close to them.

Not to mention she felt horrible that someone had died in the very area she and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes were surveying.

Carys sighed. "Four murders, and the killer gone from each and every crime scene."

"Just stay focused." Hughes advised her. "We need all the help we can get for this case."

"Makes sense," she agreed. "Although I can't say how much help I'll be on this."

"You're one of the only alchemists available at the moment. And Roy recommended you. By the way, how are your injuries?"

Carys winced. "I'm much better than I was then, believe me. And I even got a couple days off work just to recuperate after the hospital."

"Sounds fair," he responded. "Katherine did quite some damage, didn't she? She's so small and quiet most of the time, I was actually kind of surprised."

Carys shrugged. "I wouldn't underestimate her. She can be... _alarming_ when she's pissed. And I wasn't even fighting back-but let's get back to the investigation. Who _is_ this guy? Do we know anything at all about him?"

Hughes shook his head. "Not much. All we have to go on so far is he kills by some form of...explosion, like a human detonation from the inside."

"Interesting," Carys murmured. She stooped down to her knees to examine a scrap of cloth on the ground; one of the only remains of a rather unfortunate victim.

"We also know that he seems to be targeting...well, targeting..."

"Targeting what?"

Hughes' face turned dark as he replied solemnly, " _State Alchemists_."

Carys' blood ran cold.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ this is the right place?"

"Well _I_ don't know, but this is where the people in the last village said we could find him."

The Elrics were in a small village in the East, still on their search for Dr. Marcoh.

"And before that, we were told we could find him there! What's the point?" Edward demanded. "Damn Colonel. Why couldn't he have just told us exactly where he is? Why the stupid wild-goose chase?"

"He probably didn't know that he had moved, Brother," Alphonse reasoned. "Who knows when the last time they saw each other was."

"Yeah, well why does he have to move around so much? I swear, we've visited every village from here to East City, and every time, he's moved on somewhere else!"

"Are you forgetting the fact that he's a deserter and a fugitive? Of course he's going to be difficult to find!" Katherine said, exasperated.

"I know, I know, but still…"

"Why don't we talk to some of the villagers? They might have seen him." Alphonse suggested.

"Fine. Here goes nothing." Edward muttered.

They approached a young woman running a fruit stand.

"Excuse me." Katherine asked her. "We're looking for a doctor. His name is Dr. Marcoh, we were told he lives around here. Do you know where we could find him?"

The woman frowned and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I've never heard of him before."

Edward clenched his fists in frustration. "Great. NOW what are we supposed to do?"

"If you need a doctor, I'm sure Dr. Maruo would be happy to help you." The woman told them.

A man, probably the woman's husband, came up behind her. "Dr. Maruo? Oh yes, he's amazing! He fixed up my arm when I broke it last year." He told them

"He works miracles. No matter what's wrong with you, he can make you better. You just go to see him, and there's a glowing red light, and you're cured!"

 _Glowing red light?_ Katherine glanced over at her brothers to see if they had picked up on the significance of the woman's words. _That sounds like who we're after. Of_ course _he's not going by his actual name. I should have known that._

"That sounds like exactly who we're looking for! Where could we find this Dr. Maruo?"

"Oh he lives just north of here, on the edge of town." She pointed.

"Thank you so much!" Katherine told the woman, excitedly.

"Let's go." Edward was already hurrying in the direction the woman had been pointing. Katherine and Al ran to catch up with him.

 _This could be a major breakthrough._ Katherine thought to herself. _This could be how we finally get our bodies back…_

* * *

"I keep thinking I should be on lookout," Carys mused, the tiny orange-yellow tabby cat pacing along beside her.

They were taking a little walk around East City on a break.

"I mean, the Elrics are gone, and things seem just the slightest bit more quiet. But this new information about the so-called serial killer?" She shook her head. "It's a frightening development."

Naturally, she found herself talking to no one in particular-well, no one really except for her new friend, Ms. The-Cat-Al-Found-&-Gave-Me-To-Look-After-And-I-Love-Cats-So-I-Said-Yes.

"I should give you a name," she realized. She bent down beside the cat, stroking its head while it stretched out and purred.

"I know that you're Al's cat, but still. He didn't exactly have enough time to give you a proper, official title."

The cat looked up at her with big, soft eyes.

Carys tilted her head. "You know, you sort of remind me of someone." she laughed. "And now here I am, thinking that a cat reminds me of someone I lost."

She stopped, and shook her head.

"But no matter. Maybe you'd like to have her name?"

The cat merely meowed in reply.

"I shall take that as a 'yes'. Unless there are any objections?"

The cat meowed again.

"Thank you. No objections necessary. I rest my case."

She straightened up, then began to walk again, calling along to her companion from over her shoulder: "Come on, then, _Feline_!"

* * *

It was a long walk to the doctor's house. That was fine, Katherine was enjoying the quiet that had fallen. Living with two brothers and travelling constantly, silence was a luxury, except at night. And at night came the nightmares.

They had been especially bad lately. On several occasions she had woken up in the middle of the night dripping in sweat, and shaking with fear. She didn't remember what they were about, just that they kept coming.

The peace was suddenly broken though, as her brother grabbed her arm and yanked her off her feet and into a nearby bush.

"Hey-"

"Shh!" He pointed to the road. "We're being followed."

Katherine peeked out from their hiding spot. Sure enough, a little farther down the road stood a tall man with a golden moustache. He was wearing a military uniform, and looking around in confusion.

"Hey, he was one of the men that came with the Fuhrer's group to the east. Did he follow us all the way from the city?" Katherine asked, incredulously.

"He must have. Why else would he be all the way out here?"

"But how did we manage to miss him? He's so big and...sparkly." Was the only word Katherine could think of to describe the soldier.

The man, having lost sight of his quarry, turned and walked back the other way.

"I guess maybe someone in the military heard we were following Dr. Marcoh. They must want to track him down too." Alphonse said.

"Well, he's gone now. We should hurry to the doctor's house, before he comes back." Edward replied, jumping to his feet.

"Yeah. But give a girl some warning next time, before you knock her off her feet, okay, Ed?" Katherine said as she straightened her hood and brushed the dust off her jacket.

"Sorry. But otherwise he would have noticed. We're not exactly inconspicuous."

She shrugged. "Whatever. Let's get going."

It only took a few minutes for them to reach the doctor's house from there. Katherine took a deep breath, then knocked lightly on the door.

" ? We're alchemists, we're looking for-"

She was cut off as the door was flung open, and Katherine found herself looking down the barrel of a gun leveled directly at her face.

* * *

"Now, I know that you guys are apparently some gang of notorious thieves," Carys cracked her knuckles, smiling at the group of people facing her: at a guess, about 5 men and 3 women.

"Yes? And what are you going to do about it, small fry?" Their leader, dressed in a black face mask demanded.

Carys sighed.

"Oh, believe me. I'd love to stay and chat about all the gruesome details, but Feline here-" she gestured at the cat behind her.

"-And I were having a nice, peaceful walk until you guys showed up. So I'm gonna tell you what I'm gonna do." She stepped forwards.

"You can't do nothing! We are the notorious Black Eye Gang!"

Carys smirked. "Let me tell ya, the only thing you're going to be notorious for in the next few minutes or so is for the fact that I decided to take the time to catch all of you!"

And with that she sprung forwards, ring glinting green, her fist headed straight at their leader.

"Ozone."

Carys had to resist the urge to groan.

She was sitting in Mustang's office, and likely about to get the lecture of the week.

 _Ugh._

"So." Mustang raised an eyebrow at her from behind his desk. "As Hughes has informed me, you know about the killer on the loose," he placed his fingers together.

"Yes, Sir."

"And you know about his track record. All victims have been Alchemists of the State."

"Yes, Sir."

"So, then. What do you think you're doing, showing off your alchemical powers like that? He's only going to track you down that much quicker."

"Well, it's not like he wasn't going to anyways," Carys objected. "Plus, I was helping to catch a criminal gang. So what if I went a little overboard?"

"That's exactly the problem." Mustang sighed. "You have hardly any awareness of the risks, as usual."

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mean?" she demanded.

"It _means_ , Carys, that you need to start being on your guard. Too much of your time is spent running around with little to no concern whatsoever as to the consequences of your actions. Take your little fight with Katherine, for example."

"It wasn't like that!" she protested.

"Oh, really?"

"No," But she sounded uncertain, even to herself. "It _wasn't_."

"Well, then." he leaned back in his chair. "Even so, my point still stands. And I'll still advise you to stay alert. And try to tone down the...er, _mischief_ for now."

"'Mischief'?!"

* * *

 _How do we get ourselves into situations like this? I can't even knock on a door anymore without someone pointing a gun at me._

Katherine raised her hands above her head.

"Okay… we don't want to hurt you. Please put the gun down." She told the man on the other side of the door.

"How do you know my real name? No one around here knows that, except-" Then he saw the chain of Katherine's pocketwatch. His eyes widened. "You're with the state! No! You won't take me back there! I won't let you!" He cried, distraught.

"We're not here to take you back to the military. We just want to talk." Katherine tried to reassure him.

"You're lying!" His finger tightened on the trigger. Katherine drew back. "Or maybe you've come to silence me. But you can't kill me! It won't happen!"

Katherine backed away. Marcoh was getting more and more nervous, and one twitch of his finger would propel a bullet directly into her brain. She really _didn't_ want that to happen.

"It's all okay." Alphonse stepped in front of his sister.

"Alphonse…"

"Just relax. Shoot if you want, but I won't die. You might get hurt though, so please put down the gun." Al told the doctor. He stepped forward, his hollow armour clanging as it hit the barrel of the pistol.

Dr. Marcoh's eyes widened.

"I know who you are… you're the one they call the Fullmetal Alchemist." He dropped the gun. Katherine let out a sigh of relief, thanking god for her brother's quick thinking.

But Edward was not so level-headed. He marched up to the doctor.

"No! For the last time, _I'm_ the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

Dr. Marcoh frowned. "I see…" He turned back to Alphonse. "You're his brother, the Sky Alchemist, then?"

"Wrong again. That would be me. His sister." Katherine raised her hand and gave a sarcastic wave.

"Oh. Well then." The doctor paused nervously.

"We just wanted to talk to you. Colonel Roy Mustang sent us." Al explained.

sighed, then stepped aside, out of the way of the entrance to his home. "Come inside, then. I'll see if I can tell you what you want to know…"

* * *

"You want to do some pistol training?"

Hawkeye raised her eyebrows at Carys' request.

"Yes!" Carys nodded enthusiastically.

"You've never displayed an interest in this field before."

"Well, maybe I've had a change of heart." Carys countered.

The lieutenant sighed. "Well, alright then. Let's go."

They strode over to the practice area, where Carys could already see soldiers lined up, with their pistols, each one in their own little stall.

They were all aiming at the circular targets right ahead of them.

Soon, Carys found herself doing the exact same thing, with a pistol in both hands, and pointing it directly at the circle.

She had been no particular prodigy at this sort of thing-which Hawkeye already knew full well-but she still knew the fundamentals, and had a decent shot.

Sort of.

Aim. Eyes on target. Breathe, and...pull the trigger!

 _Bam._

Dead-centre.

"Not bad," Hawkeye commented. "I see you've improved since the last time."

Carys smiled to herself, remembering.

* * *

 **" _How do you use this thing, anyways?" 13 year-old Carys grumbled. She fumbled the gun yet again as she lined up for the shooting range. "This isn't gonna work."_**

 ** _Evidence of her previous failures already lined the outside of the circular target._**

 **" _I'm surprised to see you here,"_**

 ** _The voice surprised her, and she turned too quickly, dropping the gun._**

 **" _Aw, man!" she bent down to pick it up, but Hawkeye's hand was quicker. She took up the pistol, examining it._**

 **" _I'd advise you not to play around with these," she said._**

 **" _I wasn't playing around!" Carys insisted. "I was trying to shoot!"_**

 **" _Then why didn't you?"_**

 ** _Carys flushed at this. "Um, I...I...don't know how to use it," she mumbled shame-facedly._**

 ** _The lieutenant smiled. "Here, I'll show you."_**

 ** _She lined up her arm and took a deep breath before firing once, twice, three times._**

 ** _Perfect shots, every single one of them. All right in the middle of the center board._**

 ** _Carys' jaw dropped in awe at this marksmanship. "How'd you_ do _that?"_**

 **" _Here." the lieutenant handed it back to her._**

 **" _Bend your knee slightly. Relax your shoulders." she instructed. "Lean more forwards."_**

 ** _Carys assumed the stance as Hawkeye directed, pointing the gun at the target._**

 **" _Deep breath."_**

 ** _Carys gulped in a large lungful of air._**

 **" _Now...fire."_**

 ** _She complied, and the bullet went rocketing straight into the second closest circle._**

 ** _Carys was amazed. "I did it! I actually hit it!" "Well done," the lieutenant praised._**

 _ **Carys grinned.** _

* * *

..."I suppose so," Carys agreed. "But as luck would have it, I can actually hit the board now."

"Right," Hawkeye nodded. "So when are you going to tell me why we're really here?"

Carys stiffened, but just for a moment before relaxing.

"I didn't want to admit it," she muttered. "But with all this talk of the killer on the loose for State Alchemists...A part of me can't help thinking that I or someone else I know will be next."

* * *

Dr. Marcoh's home was small and cluttered, he shuffled stacks of paper and books aside to make room for them all to sit around his kitchen table.

"So you were the Crystal Alchemist, right?" Katherine asked him, still a little wary seeing as a few minutes ago the man had been threatening to shoot her.

"Yes, that was my title. Before I deserted the battlefield with my research. The military would be all too happy to get that back."

"That's why we came." Edward told him. "We're looking into human transmutation. Your research could be hugely important to us."

But shook his head. "No, I can't share that research with you." There was pain in his voice.

"What? Why not?" Edward demanded.

"It has left too much blood on my hands. It's too dangerous."

"What do you mean?" Katherine asked.

"The way the military used my discoveries, especially during the the Eastern Rebellion. It was inhumane, horrible."

"The uprising in Ishval?"

"It was a massacre. So many dead...and no logic to it at all. _I_ was responsible for all of it, so I left, and became a doctor to try and make up for my terrible crimes." The doctor's voice was soft and uneven. "Now, I can't provide you with what you're looking for, so if you'd please leave." He stood up.

"I'm a State Alchemist. I have a right to that research, and whatever else you might know." Edward countered.

"This is too much for you to handle, boy. And I haven't been a part of the military for years, your rank, or your 'rights' couldn't matter less to me."

"Edward...maybe we should just leave." Alphonse said.

"No! We've come too far to give up on this when what we're looking for is right in front of us." Edward stood up, fists clenched.

"Foolish children. Did you join the military because of the allure of the power and access it would give you?"

Katherine stood up to join her brothers. "Our reasons are none of your concern. And we are _not_ children, no matter how young we might look. We've been through far too much for that. All we want is to know anything you might know. We aren't trying to hurt anyone, we just want…" She wasn't sure how to finish this statement, without revealing too much.

"Well then, you don't want my research, girl. With this, someone _always_ gets hurt." His face twisted into a pained expression.

"Wait, Dr. Marcoh." Alphonse spoke. "I just thought you should know that you _did_ help people with your work. In a town called Xenotime, there's a little girl named Alisa. You saved her life from the toxic red water that polluted the town. The red water's gone, and she's healthy."

The doctor looked up. "I remember her! She was just a little baby then. How old is she?"

"She's five years old. She's a sweet kid."

smiled. "I'm glad. Thank you." He said to Alphonse.

"So you see? We just want to help people, like you do, Doctor."

He sighed. "I still can't give you my research. But suppose I could show you…"

He opened a small cupboard and pulled out a container filled with a red liquid. Katherine gasped.

"Red water?"

"No, it's clearer than that stuff. What is it?" Edward asked Dr. reached to grab it, but the man stepped back.

"Let me show you." He tipped the contents of the container onto the table. The siblings watched in awe as the liquid hardened into a perfectly smooth, red, stone.

"That's amazing." Katherine murmured to herself. She was burning with questions, her mind already working it's way through the possibilities of how the stone might work.

But she didn't get a chance to ask about any of them, as at that point the door was thrown open with a bang.

All of them turned, to see who stood in the doorway.

There, looming over them all, gun in hand, was Brigadier General Basque Grande.


	8. Destruction's Right Hand (2 of 2)

_Dear Aunt Miranda and Grandma Susan,_

Carys bit her tongue in between writing.

 _How are you back home?_

 _It's certainly been awhile, hasn't it? I mean, a while since I left to go join the military._

 _I miss all of you back in Westersnow, especially Toby. With times like these, the advice and reassurance of a best friend could most definitely come in handy._

 _Oh, but don't worry. I'm alright over here in East City. But the thing is, is that it looks like I'm going to have to be relocated along the rest of the unit here at Eastern Command to Central._

 _It's going to be weird at first, I'm sure. But at the same time, I have a feeling that it'll turn out just fine in the end._

 _A̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶S̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶_

She firmly crossed out the last sentence.

 _Anyways, I've met some new_

She tapped the pencil against her temple. How to describe the Elrics? Companions? Comrades? More bad influences? A pain in the Colonel's rear end?

She thought for a second or so before deciding on using the term 'friends'.

 _I've met some new friends: Edward, Katherine, and Alphonse Elric._

 _Two of them, Ed and Katherine are State Alchemists just like I am. They're just barely a year younger than me, and it's a wonder how we'd never met before my latest mission._

 _Maybe you've heard of them? They're the Fullmetal and Sky Alchemists (those are their titles)._

 _They're an interesting bunch, that's for sure. Quite intriguing, if you ask me._

 _Especially Katherine, she's really_

Pause. She bit her lip, and turned away.

 _I̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶_

 _S̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶_

 _I̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶c̶l̶o̶s̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶_

Carys felt flushed all of a sudden. "What in the world is wrong with me?" she muttered. Her cheeks felt hot. And was that-was that her heart beating _faster_?

"Stupid," she scolded. "Get back to focusing on writing."

 _she's really something._

 _I hope, that with time, we can get to be closer friends. I hope we can_ _ **all**_ _get to be good friends with one another._

 _So, again, I'm doing fine, and try not to worry about me._

 _I love you, and I'll make sure to visit as soon as I can._

 _-Carys_

"Carys!" Havoc burst into the room. "Come with me. We have a problem!"

"What?" Carys turned from her desk. "Why?"

"No time to explain. Let's go!" And with that, the Ozone Alchemist found herself dragged by the arm out through the door before she could even worry about when she was going to be able to actually mail her letter home.

* * *

The Brigadier and his men filed into the room. Grande bent to pick up the now-solid substance off the table.

"Ah, yes. The infamous stone. It has many names, and takes on many forms."

"Brigadier Grande? What are _you_ doing here?" Edward exclaimed

"Is that really the Stone?" Katherine asked.

"It's the closest we've been able to get. It's an unstable prototype, you can never know when it'll reach it's limits and it augments our abilities, and it served it's purpose well enough in Ishbal." He turned and addressed Dr. Marcoh. "And now I'm taking this with me back to Central, Crystal Alchemist."

"Wait, so the military's been actively trying to develop a Stone?" Alphonse questioned.

"And they succeeded! This proves that the concept is possible, imperfections aside. This is great!" Edward said excitedly. "What are the design specs? How does it work?"

Katherine couldn't help but feel like Edward was getting ahead of himself. If the military _had_ been doing research into the Stone, how come they hadn't been told? Things didn't feel right.

Sure enough, the Brigadier simply glowered at them. "This information is top secret, Fullmetal, and I've had enough of you three messing around with matters that are none of your concern."

He nodded to his men, who moved to grab Dr. Marcoh. "Please! Don't take me! I couldn't stand to go back!" But ignoring his pleas, the soldiers proceeded to haul him out the door. Katherine watched in dismay. _This is partly our fault. If they hadn't followed us here…_ She stepped forwards, towards them, but Edward set a hand on her arm, holding her back.

"Don't. There's no point, and we can't disobey a superior officer."

"I know. Still…" She could see a crowd gathering, a crowd of villagers that respected and relied on the doctor. Now what would they do?

The soldiers loaded a still-protesting Marcoh into a sleek black car.

Suddenly Edward tensed up. "Screw this! I can't just stand there and watch this time!" He took off after the car as it pulled away, still holding Katherine by the wrist.

"Brother, what are you doing? You just said-Edward!" Katherine stumbled after him as he dragged her along. She could hear Al's heavy footsteps behind her. "Stop it, you're not going to be able to outrun the damn car!"

Just then, Edward skidded to a halt.

"Glad to see you thinking for-" Katherine stopped talking abruptly as she saw what had made Edward end his chase.

The car was broken, sitting silently in the middle of the road. In front of it stood a tall menacing man, wearing ripped clothes and dark glasses. And across his face was a wide, X-shaped scar.

* * *

Carys sprinted around the corner, and just barely avoided crashing into an army officer.

"Jeez! What's with the crowd? Who is-?"

She stopped at once.

It was Brigadier General Basque. He was dead.

His head was in pieces, or what was left of it anyway. Blood was all over the ground, in a ring. A deadly, gruesome circle of death.

Exactly like the scene she had observed not even five days ago.

Down the road from them was a smoking wreck of what was probably once a car.

She tried to get closer, but at least three or five military personnel blocked her as she tried to make her way past.

"Let me through!" she demanded in frustration.

The officers looked down at her, obviously not recognizing who she was.

 _Typical._

She pulled out her silver pocket watch. "Alchemist of the State. Ozone Alchemist, Carys Ansel. Now, let me _pass_."

In realization, they all quickly moved aside.

"Is there someone responsible present?" she asked.

"Major Armstrong is here, ma'am." One of them informed her.

"Major Arm-" She barely had time to register the name before two huge arms were crushing her in an unbelievably tightly-wound embrace.

"Oh, my dear Ozone!" A deep voice boomed in excitement. "It has been much too long!"

This statement was soon followed by a cascade of joyful tears.

She struggled to look up into the face of the giant of the man who was hugging her, and met the only too familiar features: small blue long-lashed eyes, a long, curling blonde mustache matched with a single curlicue of blonde hair poking out from an otherwise completely bald head.

"Major Alex Louis Armstrong," she gasped out, as he finally released his hold on her.

"It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Yes, a pleasure!" he agreed.

Carys noticed the scrapes and scratches all over his face and arms. "Major Armstrong, you're all banged up! How did that happen?"

"Oh, this is nothing, my dear. Simply an effect of that terrorist on the run."

"'Terrorist'?" she repeated. "You mean the serial killer?"

"Indeed." he turned solemn.

"Where is he now?"

The Major looked pained before he answered her "He...got away, I'm afraid. He's after the Elric family as we speak."

 _The Elrics are here?!_

"Which way?" she demanded, heart racing.

 _This is just as I had feared!_

"Down the tunnel. East."

With a nod, she took off, ignoring the calls for her to come back.

 _I'm coming! Just hang on!_

 _I'll be there soon!_

* * *

Katherine ran. She didn't look back, or even really register where she was going, she just ran like her life depended on it.

Which it did. She didn't know who the hell the scarred man had been, but he clearly knew who _they_ were, and didn't want them to live.

She felt sick, thinking about what she'd just seen. He'd attacked the Brigadier's car. He'd grabbed the man by the face, and then Basque Grande's head had just... _exploded._ She stopped in the alley, gulping in air, trying not to throw up.

What disturbed her the most was just how close they'd been to sharing his fate. The man had come after them. If the state alchemist who had been following them, Major Armstrong, hadn't been there to protect them, her brains would probably no longer be inside her skull.

Edward and Al stopped behind her, Dr. Marcoh in tow.

"Did we lose him?" Al asked.

"I think the Major was keeping him busy. But we've got to get out of here .Both that man and the military are gonna be after us. " Edward told him.

"Hang on, what in _earth_ was all of that just about? That man, he kept going on about 'God's will'. And the fact that we were state alchemists. What did we ever do to him? Why is he trying do to us...do whatever the _hell_ it was that he did to Grande?" Katherine asked, her fear clear in her voice.

"I don't know, Katherine. He seemed to think he was some kind of agent of God. But things are getting serious. We can't stay here, we can't go back to East City, seeing as the Fuhrer's there. We need another option."

"I hate it when people use a non-existent _God_ to justify their crimes." Katherine hissed. "Only people are responsible for their actions."

"Did you three notice the man's irises?" Dr. Marcoh cut in. "He was wearing glasses, but I saw them when he got close. They were dark red."

"What does that mean?" Edward asked.

"It means he's Ishvalan, Ed." Katherine replied for the doctor. "Which makes sense, their religion preaches against alchemy."

Dr. Marcoh tilted his head. "How do you know about that?"

"I read?" She replied sarcastically.

He nodded.

"Anyways, it doesn't matter what his motives are, we need to get out of here before he finds us."

But the doctor didn't move. "I can't run anymore." He said, shaking his head. "Not when this is probably what I deserve."

"Is this about the whole Eastern Rebellion again? What is the deal with that? Ishval started that war, and it was hard on both sides. Why dwell on it?" Edward said.

"It wasn't just a war. There had always been friction between Ishval and Amestris, seeing as the Ishvalan people saw alchemy as a perversion of the laws of nature. Then, in a military inspection, there was an accident where a child was shot and killed." He explained.

"It sparked an uprising, one that quickly spiraled out of control, into a war that dragged on for seven long years. It might have gone on longer, had Fuhrer Bradley not decided to send in the State Alchemists." His voice began to shake.

"Using my Philosopher's Stones as amplifiers, they leveled the city to the ground. Thousands, maybe millions died. Who knows how many of them were actually insurgents, or just bystanders caught in the crossfire." Katherine could see tears forming in Marcoh's eyes.

He bowed his head and took a deep breath before continuing. "The last straw was when a pair of doctors, Amestrians who helped wounded Ishvalans and soldiers alike, were put to death. The military killed them, because they refused to stop helping people in need. After that, I couldn't take it any longer. I left, with the help of Mustang, to try and be like those two doctors. Maybe I could make up for the fact that I had done so much harm."

There was silence, as the Elrics processed what they'd just heard. The military they were a part of had been responsible for the eradication of a country.

"That's awful. But it still doesn't justify murder." Edward said at last. "And we had nothing to do with this, and he's dragged us in."

"Yeah." Al agreed. "Revenge isn't going to solve anything."

"While I am in full agreement with both of you, we're running out of time here. We should start towards the train station, and figure out somewhere to hide the doctor." Katherine cut in.

"What about Resembool? It's out of the way, and it's been awhile since we've seen Winrey." Alphonse suggested.

Marcoh stiffened. "Did you say Resembool?"

"Yes, we grew up there. We can stay with our friends the Rockbells, they're automail engineers."

But had begun to back away. "The Rockbells?! No. I can't go there with you. It's too much…"

He turned and ran.

"Hey, wait!" Katherine called, taking off after him.

But neither of them got very far. Before the doctor even reached the end of the alley, a figure sprang down from the roof of a nearby building to block their path. Katherine gasped, as she saw that it was the scarred man.

There was nowhere to run this time, the alley was a dead end, the killer blocked their only escape.

They were trapped.

* * *

 _Faster, faster._

Carys plunged through the tunnel, barely noticing that her ribs were beginning to sting, and her breath was getting forceful.

She paused for a second, wincing as she clutched at her right side.

Even though she had been long since cleared for active duty, she could tell she wasn't quite yet back up to 100%.

This was probably the most exertion on her part she had spent since the duel with Katherine.

Even that stupid gang fight hadn't taken much of a toll on her.

Stupid bruised ribcage…

"No," she announced into the silent, cold air. "This is nothing I can't handle."

And with that, she took off once more, running into the dark, hoping to be there in time, yet fearing the worst.

* * *

The man lunged at Marcoh, reaching with his right arm towards the doctor's face. Katherine sprinted towards him, noticing the strange markings that were tattooed onto his forearm. _What_ are _those?_ She reached just before his assailant did, shoving him back.

The attacker stumbled back a few steps, and glared at her.

"Sky Alchemist. I was going to deal with Crystal first, but I suppose you might prove a more interesting challenge." He drew back his arm again and jumped at her. She ducked and punched upwards, hitting him solidly in the stomach. But he was much bigger than her, the blow didn't do much other than push him back a few feet.

"You really are just a girl." He remarked. "But you chose to associate yourself with the state, so I'm afraid I can't let you live." This time when he lunged, his arm crackled with red energy.

Before Katherine could even try to dodge, Alphonse was there, shielding her. The man grabbed him and there was another flash of light, as a gaping hole opened in Al's armour, and he fell.

"Al!" Katherine cried.

"I'm fine, Sister. Look out!"

But her brother's warning came too late. While Katherine was distracted, the man had seized his opportunity to pounce. Katherine lashed out with her left arm, but her opponent merely grabbed it, twisting it behind her back and slamming her into the wall.

"Hey, let go of her!" Edward yelled, running at the man, who threw him off with his free hand, sending Ed sprawling.

"I'll get to you in a minute, Fullmetal."

Katherine struggled, but the man was incredibly strong, and had her pinned.

"You should be dead, but this sinful alchemic device keeps you alive. Let's see how long you can survive without it."

Katherine barely had time to register the man's words, before she felt her left side burst into tiny fragments of metal, and the air was forced out of her chest. She gasped, and sank down against the wall as the man released her.

"Katherine!" Edward picked himself up off the ground and launched himself at the man.

Katherine didn't really follow what exactly happened next. Her breathing was panicked, it felt like the right side of her chest was on fire as her one functioning lung tried to take in enough air. It was taking all of her concentration not to hyperventilate, or pass out, or some combination of the two.

 _Breathe in, breathe out._ She told herself. Her lung, however, was giving her a totally different message. _Oh god can't breathe help help help._

However, she managed to get her breathing under control. It was laboured and her chest still burned, but she felt less in danger of losing consciousness.

That didn't last for long, as she looked up and saw something that made her cry out in shock.

Edward was kneeling on the stone covered grounds. The scarred man's right hand was resting on his head.

Ed's automail arm was shattered.

"...you'll leave them alone?" He was saying.

"Your brother is not a State Alchemist. I can leave him."

"What about Katherine?"

 _What the hell does he think he's doing?_ "Ed, get out of here! Run!" She tried to yell, but broke off, coughing.

"Your sister won't last long like that, anyways. But I promise not to take her life with my own hand." The man said. He bowed his head. "Now, you have a moment to pray."

Katherine was _not_ going to sit back and let Edward be killed. Adrenaline took over, as she got her feet under her and sprang up, tackling her brother out of the way.

"Katherine, what are you doing?" He protested.

"Saving your life, idiot." she hissed, then gasped as she was yanked backwards by her braid, into the air.

"I was going to spare your life, girl." The man told her. "But you've forced my hand." He placed his hand over her face.

Katherine didn't have the energy to fight, she could hardly breathe now.

She closed her eyes, waiting for the end.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice came from behind her. It sounded familiar, but Katherine couldn't quite place it.

"Oh? And who might you be?" The man dropped Katherine rather unceremoniously onto the ground.

"Am I really _that_ unknown? And here I thought you were hunting down _all_ State Alchemists."

Katherine looked up, but all she saw was a person in a thick hooded black cloak.

"And _I'm_ one of them!" they announced, before charging the man head-on.

* * *

Katherine looked on, through blurry vision as their mysterious rescuer landed blow after blow at the murderer's body.

They struck with a quick flying kick, before getting knocked backwards, blocked by one of the man's massive arms.

The man said slowly. "I know you."

"Great to hear!" they shot back, flipping over his head to land several hard strikes to his upper torso.

He barely reacted, merely brushing off the attack as though it came from an insect.

Man, what was that guy _made_ of?

"You're like the Elrics. Nothing much more than a child." Katherine heard him say faintly.

"Is that so?" the hooded person asked absent-mindedly. "Well, this ' _child_ ' is about to put you back in your place!" They attacked again.

She was too sluggish to follow the movements of the two combatants. They flashed back and forth across her field of vision, exchanging blows.

It could have been a few minutes, or possibly a few seconds, but the murderer eventually won the upper hand, although Katherine thought that at least the hooded person had given him a good enough fight.

With a strike that would have made her cringe, their mystery rescuer was slammed into the ground with great force.

They lay still, unmoving. Katherine could have sworn a familiar circle of silver rolled away past their feet.

"Now that _that_ irritation has been resolved…" the scarred man stood and began approaching them again. "It's time to finish you off."

Katherine tried to move away, but her vision was much too blurred and her limbs too heavy to do anything useful.

Plus, with one of her arms out of commission, she was going nowhere.

"Don't…" she gasped out feebly, as he reached down towards her and Edward.

"Stay...back-!"

No time.

His palm was headed straight for her face.

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for it all to be over.

But it wasn't.

"STOP!" she heard someone scream, then a flash of furious, blinding green light. The man drew back, yelling out in pain.

The figure in the hood stood, knees shaking. " _DON'T TOUCH THEM_."

They stepped forwards menacingly.

The man seemed to know he was outmatched. Glaring at their rescuer, he backed out of the alley, then turned tail and ran.

Katherine was at this point _very_ confused. What was that light? What had just happened? Her head was spinning.

"Al! Katherine! Are you two alright?" Edward asked, running over. "Go get some help!" He ordered the hooded figure, who nodded and ran off, pausing to pick something up off the ground.

"What...the _hell..._ were...you…thinking?" Katherine demanded, pushing him down.

"He was going to let you live! I was doing what I had to."

"What you … had to?" She exclaimed indignantly, then started coughing, hard. Her vision was starting to go dark at the edges.

"Hey. Don't talk, you're making it worse. Just hold on." He said, setting a hand on her shoulder.

"He's right, Sister, don't waste your energy. But Ed, that was really _stupid."_ Al said, his voice uncharacteristically angry. "You should have run when you could, instead you just gave up."

"I was doing what was fair!"

"You call dying _fair?"_

Footsteps sounded on the ground.

"This way!" A voice called, before a group of soldiers appeared around the corner.

One of them ran up to the siblings.

"Hey, are you guys okay? What happened?"

Katherine looked up, and noticed in surprise that it was Carys standing above her.

"Kind of… a long...story…" Katherine choked out.

"Katherine?" Carys knelt in front of her. "Are you hurt? What's going on?"

"I'm...fine." Katherine said, but was then taken over by another coughing fit. Her head was pounding, every breath hurt.

"What's wrong?"

"Katherine?"

"Sister!"

Everything was muffled, but she could hear voices yelling. Then, her vision went completely dark and she fainted onto the hard ground.

* * *

Carys yanked off her hood, letting the dark cloak fall carelessly to the floor.

She pulled up her desk chair, and sat, her head in her hands.

 _SLAM._

 _Carys felt the impact from the hit as the breath was driven clear from her lungs._

 _She wheezed, trying to get back up, but to no avail._

 _That injury again! Her ribs felt nearly as sore as they had about a week and a half ago!_

" _Now that_ that _irritation has been resolved…" the scarred man stood and began walking towards the disabled Elrics. "It's time to finish you off."_

 _Carys raised her right hand, but saw no familiar silver ring._

 _Her blood ran cold._

 _Great. Now what was she going to do?!_

 _She should have taken that stupid pistol when she had had a chance._

 _She rolled over onto her front, and after a couple tries, managed to get one knee off the ground. Then the other._

 _She looked up, only to see the scarred man with his hand outstretched, reaching out for Katherine's face..._

" _STOP!" She threw herself in front of Katherine, her hands out in front of her to block his attack._

 _She shut her eyes tight, channelling everything she was feeling at the moment-all her anger, her fear, the frustration she had felt for the past two weeks out into the air._

 _There was a blast like a cannon, and the man yelled out in pain._

 _She forced one eye open._

 _He was backing away, rage distorting his features. He reached out his arm again, but she got to her feet, between him and the Elrics._

" _DON'T TOUCH THEM." she snarled, stepping forwards._

 _The man glared, then turned and fled._

That had been too close.

The man had almost killed all of them, and even worse: Carys had almost lost herself again.

She had just gotten so scared, terrified beyond compare when she had seen the man reaching out to take Katherine's life.

She had just leapt for it, forced herself between them, and-she had nearly given up control of her power.

 _Her power..._

* * *

Even unconscious, Katherine's mind didn't rest. Inside her head, she stood at the end of a tunnel. Everything was pitch black, but Katherine somehow knew that there was someone, no-some _thing-_ on the other side. It wasn't as if she could see or even hear it, but like she could sense it's presence. She felt a sharp pain in the centre of her chest, like someone had reached inside her and wrapped their hand around her heart. It was pulling her, agonizingly slowly towards the thing at the end of the tunnel, step by step.

But before she reached the end, her dream began to fade and her mind began to crawl its way back to consciousness. However, the pain, the tugging sensation, stayed. Though it was significantly less noticeable next to the fact that it seemed to be taking all her energy to take in enough air.

She forced her eyes open. She didn't know where she was. Everything was fuzzy, unclear. What had _happened_ to her?

Then, memories came rushing back. An alley, a man reaching for her, a bright flash of light-

She gasped, and sat up. She felt a hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down.

"Hey, take it easy there."

She looked up.

"Carys? What-" she coughed. "What happened?" Katherine put a hand to her face, where she could feel some kind of mask covering her nose and mouth.

"Scar came after you and your brother. He broke your automail, and then I-" she stopped, shaking her head. "I mean, and then we're not sure. We found you guys in an alley with Dr. Marcoh. Scar was gone."

"Right. I remember. Well, sort of. Wait, where are Ed and Alphonse?" She sat up again, swinging her legs over the side of the bed she'd been lying on.

"They're fine. You, on the other hand-"

"Am also fine." Katherine went to stand up, and stumbled as the blood rushed from her head. Carys grabbed her arm.

"That's pretty much what you said before passing out in front of me, so excuse me for being a little bit sceptical."

Katherine dismissed her with a wave of her hand.

"I've had worse. Now where are my brothers?"

Even though she knew they were probably taking care of themselves, she wanted to see for herself. And besides, she had quite a few things to say to Edward as she remembered his latest stupid, self-sacrificial act.

"They're with the Colonel, and I would be happy to go get them for you if you would just _lie down."_ Carys said, pulling Katherine over to the bed and sitting her down on it. "I'm scared you're going to faint again."

Katherine thought about arguing, but decided against it. As much as she hated to admit it, she was in bad shape. Even with the mask helping her breathe, she felt weak and lightheaded, and her chest hurt.

Just as Carys turned to leave, the light glinted off of the ring on her finger, catching Katherine's eye and bringing back another memory. This one of the hooded figure, a ring rolling across the ground.

"Hey, hang on, Carys."

Carys stopped and turned around to face her.

"Um, this might sound kind of strange, but do you know who saved us? The alchemist with the hood?"

Carys looked down, thinking. "Oh…no, I don't think so. There was another alchemist there?"

"Yeah. They kind of came out of nowhere, in this big black hood. They had a ring, I think, like yours. And I remember they said they were a State Alchemist. That man said they were young, too…" she tilted her head, studying Carys. She seemed uncomfortable, tugging at the sleeves of her uniform.

"I don't know. Sounds like you guys got lucky, to me. And as for what you heard or saw, I mean, you were pretty out of it back there."

Katherine was still not convinced. But Carys didn't have any reason to lie…or did she?

 _There's still a whole lot I don't know about her._ She let the subject drop.

"Anyways…I'll go get your brothers. And the Colonel wanted to know when you were awake. Just don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, okay, Miss Blue?"

"Since when am I likely to do something stupid?"

Carys sighed. "Just wait here."

 _That foolish girl…_

Carys fumed as she walked down the hall to Mustang's office. She was happy that Katherine was doing better, but she was _far_ too perceptive for Carys' comfort. Semi-conscious and suffocating, she had still managed to notice Carys' ring, and overheard her exchange with Scar. She had been close to putting it all together…

Carys shook her head. She didn't even want to consider that possibility. Her secret was safe, for now. But how long could she keep hiding? It was becoming more and more clear to her that she couldn't maintain this facade for much longer, the next time someone got close, they'd find everything.

 _Then make sure there isn't a next time._ She told herself sternly. _Be more careful._

Pushing all thoughts of the danger she was in aside, she knocked firmly on Mustang's office door. She could hear voices coming from within.

"Come in."

She opened the door.

The room was full of people. Hawkeye and the rest of her unit were there, along with Major Armstrong and Hughes.

The Elric brothers were there as well, And Ed was standing across from the Colonel, glaring.

"Ah, Ozone. Join us. We were just discussing Scar, the Ishvalan."

"Yeah, and why no one warned us about him." Ed remarked pointedly.

Mustang sighed.

"Like I said, Fullmetal, I would have. But we didn't know much about him until now. We didn't even know he'd moved into the East until after his attack on you and the doctor."

Edward wasn't satisfied by this explanation.

"You knew he was a threat!" He slammed his hand onto the colonel's desk. "You could have warned us, but you said nothing, and because of that, we almost died."

Mustang remained calm.

"Again, I didn't know he was a threat to _you._ I'm sorry that you and your siblings got caught up in all this, but that's part of the price of being a State Alchemist. Frankly, I don't see what the problem is here."

That only served to infuriate Ed even further.

"The problem?! The _problem,_ Colonel," He hissed, "Is that I am missing an arm, my brother is in pieces, and my sister is unconscious!"

Carys felt a twinge of pity for Ed. She knew he was angry because he was worried about his siblings. It was a feeling she knew all too well. She noticed Mustang showing a hint of the same sympathy, but he quickly wiped it away, returning to his stern self.

Then, suddenly, she remembered why she was here. Katherine was probably going to start wondering where she was.

"Actually-" She started to say, before being cut off.

"About your arm." The colonel said. "I'll take it you're going to need to pay your mechanic a visit?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah. I can't exactly do my alchemy with my arm, and if I can't do that I can't fix Al. I'm going to need to take some leave and head to Resembool as soon as possible."

"Fair enough. I'll assign someone to be your escort." Mustang replied.

Ed frowned. "We can manage on our own."

The colonel laughed. "I'm not sending three injured kids out on their own, not with a killer on the loose."

But of course Ed wasn't just going to sit back and accept basic common sense. He crossed his arms. "We _don't_ need another babysitter."

Carys rolled her eyes and leaned back. It looked like she was going to be here a while...

* * *

Katherine was getting a little impatient. What was taking them so long? She was tempted to get up and find them herself, but she figured Carys would be irritated and didn't really feel like starting a fight.

But the whole situation was making her angry. They had gone to the east to find answers, and now not only did they have nothing, but she was stuck with her automail in pieces in a bed in who-knew-where, and she couldn't even stand up without almost blacking out. And her hood was gone, her jacket had probably been ripped to shreds when the man Carys had called Scar had deconstructed her automail. Without anything to hide behind, she felt anxious and exposed. She tugged her hair over the left side of her face with her right hand, trying in vain to hide her scars.

Finally, she decided to go find them herself. She sat up, slowly this time, and put her feet on the floor. Tentatively she stood, and this time kept her balance.

One step at a time, she made it to the doorway, then out into the hall, pulling the tank that was supplying her oxygen.

It was then that she realized where they were. This was the main headquarters at East City. But that was hours away from the village where they had found .

 _Just how long was I unconscious?_

She heard voices coming from an open doorway a few doors down from the room she had just left. One was unmistakably Edward's, and he was mad about something. Then someone else replied evenly, it sounded like Mustang. She began to walk towards them, leaning on the wall for support. It was only a few dozen feet away, but by the time she got there she was breathing hard and her vision had started to go fuzzy again.

 _Stupid, useless lung!_ She cursed silently

The room was someone's office, Katherine wasn't sure who's, and was full of people. Mustang and his unit, along with Carys, Ed, Al, and a man Katherine didn't recognize all filled up the space.

"I told you, _don't_ call us children!" Edward was yelling.

Mustang looked up and spotted Katherine in the doorway. "Sky Alchemist." He acknowledged her, ignoring Ed's previous protest. "How nice of you to join us."

"I told you to wait back in your room!" Carys chastised her, jumping to her feet.

"I did. You didn't come back. I came to look for you guys."

"You're lucky you didn't faint."

"I was _careful,_ not lucky. Now what's going on? Ed, why were you yelling?"

"We'll explain everything, but you should sit down." Hawkeye said, looking concerned.

Katherine did as she was told, making her way over to one of the couches in the room and falling back onto it. Carys sat back down beside her. She tried to focus on the conversation, rather than the worried glances everyone kept shooting her.

"I was just explaining to the Colonel here why we _don't_ need an escort. We can make it back to Risembool to get our automail fixed on our own." Edward explained through gritted teeth.

"And _I_ was trying to talk some sense into your brother." Mustang shot back. He turned back to Edward. "Your sister can hardly breathe, your brother is in pieces and none of you can use alchemy. If Scar tracks you down again, you're sitting ducks. Hell, I bet even Ansel over there could take all three of you."

"Hey!" Carys protested.

"He's got a point, Ed." Alphonse said, from his chair. He was missing a leg and an arm, and most of his chest plating was cracked.

"Oh, come on! Katherine, back me up here!" Edward demanded. All eyes turned to her.

Katherine realized then just how much of a mess she must look. Her hair was undone and unbrushed, half hanging over her face. Her shirt hung loosely over the left side of her body where her automail had been, and she was breathing through a mask. She wasn't going to be able to convince anyone that they didn't need help, and she wasn't sure it was a good idea to even try.

"I agree with Alphonse." She said, softly. Ed glared, she shrugged helplessly.

"That settles it then." Mustang stated smugly. "Now who is going to accompany them to Risembool? Any volunteers?" Everyone looked around nervously. No one wanted to risk coming up against Scar again.

Then someone with a booming voice spoke up from the back of the room. "I will guard the Elrics on their journey!"

Katherine saw that it was Major Armstrong, the alchemist who had defended them back in the eastern village.

"Thank you, Major." Mustang replied. "Now, just to be safe...Ms. Ansel? How are your injuries?"

Katherine felt Carys stiffen beside her. "They're fine, Sir."

"Excellent. You managed to keep these three from getting killed last time you were with them, can I trust you to do it again?"

"Yes, Sir." Carys gave a little salute.

"Good. Don't mess up. Now can someone make sure Katherine doesn't kill herself getting back to her room?"

"I will take care of the young lady." Armstrong announced, walking over to the couch and scooping her up off of it before she could even open her mouth to object.

"I'm capable of walking, you know."

"Nonsense! You shouldn't tire yourself."

She sighed and gave up. Apparently everyone around here was convinced that she was incredibly fragile, and no amount of protesting was going to change that.

Ed followed behind them down the hall.

"Katherine!" He called. "Are you alright? You don't look so good."

She nodded.

"I'll survive." Then, looking at her brother's face, she was hit hard by the memory of him kneeling in the street, waiting to be killed. She flinched. "And about that stunt you pulled back there-"

Ed held up his good hand to stop her.. "Alphonse already gave me an earful about that."

"And now it's my turn." Katherine continued as they reached her room. The Major seemed to understand that the twins needed space, and so left after setting Katherine down on the bed.

"Don't you _ever_ do something like that again, understand?" She said, her voice quiet, but firm.

Edward didn't reply.

" _Do you understand me."_ She repeated.

"Yeah, Katherine, but hear me out. I was trying to protect you guys. If my life could have bought you some time, it would have been worth it. You would be alive."

"Alive? Ed, I almost had to watch you _die_ in front of me! And there was nothing I could do! How could I be expected live with that?" She demanded, her voice rising.

"If something ever were to happen to you, or to Alphonse, it would kill me." She whispered, trying to hide the fact that she was on the verge of tears.

They had been through Hell and back, but the only real, horrible fear she had felt was when one of her brothers' lives were in danger.

"You almost died too, Katherine. And there _was_ something I could do to stop it. So I did. And then _you_ threw yourself in the way and he was gonna kill you,

and he would have too, if that other alchemist hadn't come along. Then, when I thought we were all okay, you collapsed...I was afraid you were dying."

There was quiet for a moment.

"How about we just agree to try and avoid near-death experiences in the future, okay?" Ed said at last.

Katherine smiled despite herself.

She reached out with her arm, and she and her brother hugged, a rare moment of friendly contact between the siblings.

" _Deal_."


End file.
